Second star to the right and straight on till morning
by marinenerd01
Summary: The story of a Rouge Trader, his rise and the voyages through the stars in search of adventure and profit.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: Hello everyone, just an idea that has been bouncing around and I thought that I would give it a try. As always I own nothing. Yes, I know they use the metric system, but I am American so I will be using the imperial system at times. I own nothing.**

The clanging of the alarm sounded throughout the hab-block, rousing all within. Theobald Traub forced his eyes open and groaned, five more minutes. That was all he wanted, just five more minutes. It was not to be; however. The alarm would not let him go back to sleep and he knew all too well the consequences of being late. He rose from his sleeping mat, pulled on his robe and walked out the door of his living space. It was considered a mark of his station as a mid-level scribe at Leiner & Leiner Brothers Shipping Company that he was allowed a living space of eight by eight feet all to himself when often whole families had to share similar space.

Once in the corridor he fell into his place in line to go to the communal showering. There were two line, one for men and one for women. As they entered their respective areas some of the more adventurous young men tried to peek into the women's' shower, but Traub did not. At nineteen and his rank he felt it his duty to set an example and he knew full well the consequences of being caught, even though he did not see any proctors around one needed to always look out for informers. As he entered he stripped off his clothing and walked to the nearest faucet which he shared with three others. Time was short so there was no time to talk. After scrubbing and rinsing for two minutes the water was cut off and they made room for the next group and walked to the exit where piles of clean robes awaited them. They slipped these on and made their way to the hab chapel for the mandatory predawn service.

They all filled in and sat dawn on the hard wooden benches and waited for Preacher Pilzer to arrive to administer the daily sermon before work began. Pilzer was a good ten minutes late and though no one said anything Traub knew that people were getting restless, knowing that their pay would be docked for any time that they missed from their shifts. At last Preacher Pilzer arrived and, after making the sign of the Aquila, began his sermon. As he droned on Traub let his mind wonder. The sermon was essentially the same as every other one he had delivered, expounding on the virtues of citizens to do their duty to the Emperor and the Imperium. Pilzer merely changed the wording around a bit each time. At last the sermon ended and they filled out of the chapel. Once out the clean robes were taken from them and the clothing that they had been wearing before showering was given back to them. The robes were taken away to be cleaned and once a month Traub and all the others would be expected to pay for their cleaning. Just then the speaker system blared to life.

"Attention residents. In order to ensure that work quotes are met for today you shall all go to your places of employment immediately, the morning meal has been cancelled." There were a few groans from children which the adults, who had suspected as much, quickly hushed.

They trooped down to the public transport station and there they began to move apart, with the various people moving to the transport which would take them to their places of work. Traub moved to the one which would take him near the planet's only spaceport. Wayfarer's Haven, the planet which Traub inhabited, had little in the way of natural resources and would likely have been regulated to Agri-World had it not been for its one unusual feature. The world was located at the juncture of several stable, in as much as such things could be considered stable, warp currents. The result being that many ships passed through the system as they went about their way. Naturally many of these were merchantmen and Wayfarer's Haven, or just Haven for short, became a place where many merchants bought and sold goods and the majority of the population not employed in agricultural work were employed in the unloading, moving and loading of cargo.

Traub, fortunately, was spared from either task. Leiner & Leiner Brothers Shipping Company, despite what the name said, did not ship cargo themselves. Rather they bought and sold it and at times acted as brokers for others. Traub's task was that his father, grandfather and indeed as far back as Traub knew was to assist in the management of the company's accounts. Traub spent his days staring at rolls of parchment checking and correcting columns of numbers dealing with the profits, loses and expenses of the company. He would then pass this on to the senior clerks who would then check and correct his entries. It was monotonous work, but at least he was not breaking his back in a field or warehouse.

 _I suppose it could be worse._ Traub thought as he settled down on his desk and began to work.

The day past slowly, as all days seemed to do. The work was extensive, but it was nothing that Traub had not done a thousand times before and due to the fact it was highly unlikely that even if he made a mistake that it would ever be noticed. Indeed he could very easily imagine the piles of parchment that he and the others worked on being used to create a musty mountain of parchment in some storage room somewhere. So while his body checked and recorded the numbers on the parchment in front of him in almost servitor-like fashion, he allowed his mind to wander to more pleasant matters.

Haven's population was strictly controlled in order that the population not cut into the food exports which brought quite a bit of profit to the planet. The population cap meant that Traub had been an only child, as many of the people whom he had grown up with had been. This meant that parents who could afford to often indulge their one and only child as best they could. At the time of his birth his father, Herman Traub, had already risen to the position of Senior Scribe at Leiner & Leiner and this granted him greater capacity for the indulgence of his child.

Theobald had, of course attended, the schola sponsored by Leiner & Leiner for the training of its future employees, but he had gone beyond that. He had always loved to read and his father had been able to secure him several books. Theobald had devoured these with relish and still had those books with him.

Most dealt with the planet's history and how it had been reunited with the Imperium during the Great Crusade. At the time the planet had been conquered by a xenos race and had cruelly subjugated the human population. According to both the books and the sermons preached on the anniversary of Haven's liberation the people had despaired and had cried out for deliverance and the God-Emperor heard their cries and sent his Angels of Death, the Adeptus Astartes of the Raven Guard led by their Primarch, the demigod Corvus Corax himself.

The demigod had conducted a brilliant campaign, striking from the shadows and denying the foe an enemy that they could bring their whole strength to bear on. The accounts of the end of the campaign varied, some saying the foe was completely destroyed and some saying that they had fled into the dark of space, too fearful to ever face the Emperor's wrath again. Regardless of the fate of their former masters the People of Haven had been saved. They pledged their loyalty to the Emperor and the Imperium and had been faithful servants of the Imperium ever since.

Theobald have loved those stories and often in his youth he and his friends had often played at refighting the ancient battles. Their favorite place had been the Ruins. The Ruins consisted of a part of the hab-block which had collapsed due to poor construction and lack of maintenance. As a child the Ruins seemed endless and while there had been a number of calls for the Ruins to be rebuilt, but various governors had dismissed this, citing the cost and the need to keep the population in check. While this may or may not have been a wise decision as for as the adults were concerned, for Theobald and his friends it had been wonderful. While they were, of course, forbidden to enter the Ruins for safety reasons that had not stopped them. The call of levels and levels of ruins for them to climb through and explore, more than they could all see in a lifetime, was simply too much for them to resist, even if they had wanted to.

They had often sipped away from the schola to play and explore, as far as Theobald was concerned the courses of their lives were already determined anyway and so it did not matter if they did well in the schola, or even if they were to show up. Of course they were beaten by the instructors and their parents on more than one occasion, but that had not stopped them. The Ruins had represented more than just excitement to Theobald, it had represented freedom. He would at times slip off to the Ruins at night, in ways he preferred to go alone, dodging patrols of Enforcers and moving through the ruins in the dark. Even in his youth he knew that it was the closest thing to freedom that he was ever likely to know. Sometime he would climb to the very top and stare out at the stars. He sometimes wish he could travel and see the stars, but that was an impossible dream.

Most people on Haven never left the world and most of them were those who did so as members of the Imperia Guard and Theobald had no desire to do any such thing. He enjoyed playing at being a warrior, but he had no desire to actually be one. He knew about aliens only from having them mentioned in sermons and while they were portrayed as weak and cowardly the mere thought of actually fighting one filled him with a dread that he dared not mention to anyone, certainly not the priest when he took confessions. So instead he roamed the ruins at night and when he could talked to any travelers who were willing to talk to him. At last; however, he grew old enough to leave the schola and join his father at Leiner & Leiner and there was no more time for adventure, only day after day of ledgers, numbers and monotony.

A bell chimed, signaling that the time of the mid-day meal had arrived. They all rose from their desks and moved toward the feeding hall for their thirty minute lunch break. As the one holding the senior position in their room of work Traub was permitted to enter the hall first. He took his plate of nutrients and headed to his usual place at one of the tables, he favored this table because it had a fine view. The view in question was of Vallie Duffus, one of the stewardesses charged with serving the owners and their important guests.

Though a few years older than Traub, he found her highly attractive. She was not beautiful in the conventional sense, or she would have been serving the owners and guests in a more intimate manner, being slightly thicker around the waist than many found desirable, but Traub did not mind as she had nice eyes and a nice smile. Though their positions meant that they did not interact frequently on the few occasions that they had spoken he had found her very kind and polite. Indeed, he was already composing his request for permission that he could enter into a marriage contract with her. He was sure that she would say yes because while he was not the most hansom of men, being a bit too tall and think by local standards, he was likely to one day assume his father's position of Senior Scribe, which was as high as one of his class could hope to go and he would be able to provide her with a standard of living beyond that which she enjoyed now and would be more than able to provide for their child. Many relationships were founded on a lot less. A chime sounded, indicating that the meal break was half over. He took his mind from dreaming and turned his attention fully to his meal.

At long last the day ended and they all lined up to receive their pay for the day. One by one they went up to the pay clerk, who placed the coins in their hands. Standing next to the clerk was a man who took coins way to cover the cost of the temple robes, tithes to the Church, cost of food and rent and all the other taxes and expenses. They then all trooped down to the public transport which took them back to their habitations. Once there they went to the feeding hall and ate their dinner. Once this was done the people were released for free time. As there was very little to actually do the majority simply returned to their living units, Traub among them.

Once he was in his unit he went to the small pile of books next to his sleeping mat. While old and worn they were all that remained of his parents, who had passed several years earlier due to a public transport accident. He read these till the lights were turned off for the night. He then slipped off his cloths and got under the blanket on his sleeping mat to rest till the next day to begin again.

 _This is it._ Traub thought, feeling the old frustration build up within him. _This is my life. From now till the end of my days._

 **Author's Notes: Well what did you think? I know nothing really happpend, that's next time, I mostly wanted to establish things. While this is about a Rouge Trader, it will be some time before he becomes one I wanted a logical reason why he, of lowly birth could obtain such a title. All will hopefully become clear soon. Till then please pray for all who need it and may Jesus bless you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: Hello, thanks for reading the last chapter and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. I own nothing.**

Theobald was jerked from sleep by the blaring of a siren. For a moment he indulged in his usual morning grumbling, but even as he did so something was nagging at the back of his mind. It took him a moment to realize what was wrong and then it hit him. It was a siren, not the morning bell. Why would there be a siren sounding? Try as he might Theobald could not remember every hearing this siren, he could not even remember why there would be such an alarm. Just then the siren was replaced by the voice of an announcer speaking in a flat, emotionless tone of voice.

"Attention all residents. The city is currently experiencing a slight upheaval. In order to quickly restore order to ensure that production and work quotas are met the Governor has declared a State of Emergency and has issued a proclamation that all able-bodied citizens are to enroll in the Planetary Defense Force. Report to the nearest Planetary Defense Force armory to receive weapons, training and assignments. Failure to do so will be considered an act of treason by the Adeptus Arbites and anyone found guilty of such acts will be subject to immediate execution. That is all.

"Attention…" the voice droned on, repeating the words over and over again, the Theobald scarcely heard them, his mind going into shock.

This could not be happening, this was Haven. Nothing bad ever happened on Haven, nothing ever happened at all on Haven. This was all a bad dream, he was still asleep. Any moment now the bell would sound and he would wake up, shower, listen to Preacher Pilzer give another boring sermon, go to work, fantasize about Vallie Duffus, go home, read and sleep. Yes, that was real, this siren and alarm was not real, it was merely a bad dream. For the first time in his life he wished that the alarm bell would sound so the dream would end. Yet time passed and the siren and announcement continued and a horrible thought began to form in his mind. What if it was not a dream? What if, against all odds, something terrible truly was happening? In a final desperate to convince himself that this was all a dream Theobald pinched himself as hard as he could, his mother once having told him to do that if he was ever having a bad dream and it would wake him up. He pinched so hard that he began to think that he would draw blood; yet still the siren blared and the announcement continued to sound. The feeling of dreadful suspicion solidified in horrifying certainty, there really was something happening. Something bad.

In a dazed state Theobald rose, put on his clothing and moved to the door. The corridor outside was already filled with people, most looking as confused and frightened as Theobald felt. Small children appeared to be crying while their parents tried to comfort them. People were talking amongst themselves, speculating about what was going on and trying to convince each other that whatever was happening could not be as bad as it sounded. It all seemed surreal to Theobald, as if he were watching one the holo-films they were occasionally permitted to see. People bumped into him and spoke to him, but he could not understand them, they all seemed far away and their voices muffled and distant. However; he guessed that they were asking him what they should do, as his position in the office gave him a sort of authority amongst those who lived around him. He swallowed, his throat feeling uncomfortably dry and forced words out.

"Form into lines! Form into your regular lines and we shall proceed to the designated area in an orderly manner." The others stared at him for a moment and then began to move into their usual positions. They, like Theobald, seemed to find comfort in having at least one familiar aspect of a day which was otherwise full of the frighteningly unfamiliar.

They approached the public transport station, merging with other groups of people along the way. Once they reached the station they found that another familiar piece of their lives had been changed. A group of Enforces, the local law enforcement, were separating the people into groups. Young and middle-aged people were being put in one group and the elderly and children were being put in another. Once a tram was available as many of the first group were loaded on and it set off. Some parents protested about being separated from their children, but their protests were ignored and one woman was even struck across the head by an Enforcer with his baton. The crowd, already frightened and angry, seemed almost ready to rush the Enforcers, but the officers drew their autopistols and the crowd sullenly backed down.

Theobald found himself pushed onto one of the trams with a number of other people, many more than the tram was ever designed to hold. It shot along the rails towards the nearest Planetary Defense Force, or PDF for short, armory. Theobald had never been there, but he did know that it was near the governor's palace and the Adeptus Arbites's fortress in the Government Sector of the city. Theobald had never been there himself, but he had often seen it as he traveled to work. His thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound, a kind of repeated thumping noise. Then the tram emerged from a tunnel and for the first time Theobald saw what was going.

Sections of the city were burning, great columns of smoke rising as high as the tallest towers. Overhead, so small they looked little bigger than insects, aircraft flew about, occasionally dropping objects which exploded producing the thumping sounds which Theobald had heard earlier. This was no mere disturbance. This was a full scale invasion of their world! He had thought that he was beginning to calm down, but now Theobald's terror returned. He wanted to run, to scream, to do something which would relieve the terror which welled up within him, but he could not. He was in tram so tightly packed that he could not move and in his terror it seemed that there was not even enough air to breath. The tram stopped at a station which Theobald had never been to before and the Enforcers on the tram herded them off. While the fear increased inside him Theobald was almost relieved, he was out of the tight space and could breathe again, drawing in deep, shaky breaths.

The station was already crowded with people being forced into lines which led into the armory and Theobald and the others were pushed into these lines. They moved slowly, with confused and frightened people getting in each other's way and causing the lines to become tangled and stop as order was restored. All the while the sounds of battle could be heard, the thump of explosives being joined by other sounds; the sound of gunfire and the rumble of artillery. To his horror Theobald realized that the sounds were becoming louder, meaning that they were drawing closer to the fighting.

As the lines went into the building Theobald could not see the end till he himself shuffled inside. It was a large, cavernous space which Theobald guessed usually housed vehicles. All of these were gone, in their place groups of men in the uniform of the PDF and they seemed to be pulling people from the lines, handing them equipment and then pushing them towards exits at the other end of the building. They were saying things to the people that they were handing out equipment to, but they were too far away for Theobald to make out what they were saying. At last Theobald neared the table. A member of the PDF with two stripes on his sleeves grabbed Theobald and nine others and pulled them a little to the side.

"Right!" the man barked at them in strained voice, as if he had been yelled for some time.

"You lot are Forth Squad, D Company, remember that!" Another of the PDF produced five autoguns and thrust them at five of the group. The first PDF trooper continued speaking, addressing those with the guns.

"You five are the riflemen. You flip this switch," he demonstrated on another of the weapons; "To turn the safety off." He pointed to two pieces of metal, one near the edge of the barrel and the other near the back of the gun.

"These are the sights. Place the butt of the weapon firmly in your shoulder and line the sights up to aim. The bullets come from magazines, which each holds thirty bullets or rounds. When you run out of bullets push this button here." He pointed to a button on the side of the weapon.

"That will eject the magazine. Take a new magazine and push it in as hard as you can. You then take this," He pointed to what looked like a small grip; "And pull it back till you hear a click, that means a round is in the chamber and the weapon is ready to fire." He paired them up into groups of two, one with a weapon and one without. The second PDF trooper came up and handed six or seven magazines to Theobald and the others who did not have weapons. The first trooper turned to them.

"You lot are the ammo bearers. You stick with the rifleman that you have been assigned to. When they needs a new magazine you give them one. If you run out find more and if your rifleman dies, you take up their weapon and keep fighting." He jabbed a finger towards the exits the people ahead of them had been using.

"Go through there and find the rest of D Company! MOVE!" This last was said in a sharp, harsh voice when the men hesitated. They immediately started moving towards the exit while behind them Theobald heard the man beginning his instructions to the next group of people.

The exit opened up on a wide grassy area whose function Theobald could not guess. Whatever its usual function, it was now being used as a staging area. The field was almost entirely covered with men and vehicles, the latter being a mixture military and civilian vehicles. Around these vehicles some of the people who had been in line ahead of Theobald were milling about, most either waiting or looking for something. They too were a mixture of armed and unarmed individuals. Most carried autoguns like Theobald's companions, though a few were carrying lasguns. On some of the vehicles PDF officers were calling out to the people milling around.

"A Company here!"

"F Company over here!"

"D Company to me!" This last caught Theobald's and the others attention as they had been told that they belonged to D Company.

They headed towards the vehicle upon which the man stood, pushing aside those who got in their way till they reached the group standing which they assumed were also members of Company D. They stood there for a time, the officer seemed to be waiting to see if any more were coming. Once he made up his mind that no more were he turned to indicate several large trucks, including a civilian trash hauler.

"All of you in the trucks! Move!" The men and women moved forward and started to climb up into the vehicles. Theobald was hindered, both by his scribe's robes and with him having his arms full with spare magazines and stumbled and fell as he clambered on, scattering the magazines across the truck bed. This earned him a curse and a kick from the officer, fortunately the others in the truck helped him gather the magazines and he was able to get a seat next to his rifleman just as the vehicle began to move.

The vehicles move into a line and set off towards…wherever it was they were going. It was too loud to talk to one another and in any event Theobald was too scared to speak and it appeared that most in the truck shared his fear. Theobald saw that many of the faces were pale or sickly green and he was sure that his was no better and it felt as if his bladder and bowels had turned to water. The situation was not improved by the sounds of battle growing steadily louder and the sides of the truck meant that, while they could hear the sounds of battle, they could not see what was going on. There was a slight bump as the truck rolled over something, made a sharp turn to the left and ground to a halt. The officer, who had the seat nearest to the back of the truck, stood up.

"OUT! OUT! OUT!" They rose and stumbled their way out and Theobald was at last able to see where they were.

To his surprise he found that they were in the courtyard of the Governor's palace, a place normally restricted to the aristocracy. It was much different from its usual state. Trenches had been dug in the sculptured gardens and many of the trees had been cut down to form crude barricades. The officer pointed to a crudely dug trench near the gate and Theobald and the other clambered into the trench. It had been poorly and hastily constructed and barely came up to their waists, forcing them to lie down and curl up in order to gain cover. Once they were positioned they had nothing to do but wait. As they did so more of the trucks came through, bringing more of the ad hock militia. Looking around Theobald saw more trenches being dug and barricades being erected. Beside him the rifleman that he had been assigned to, a warehouse worker by the look of his clothing, muttered a curse, making sure that it was too low for the officer to hear.

"This is grox dung!"

"What is?" Theobald asked, more to take his mind off of what was going on around them and what was to come than because he actually cared what the man was talking about. The man gave him a contemptuous look.

"Use your eyes quill-pusher! Look around us." He waved his hand to indicate those around them. The militia consisted of civilians and a handful of Enforcers, not one PDF among them.

"And look at them!" He gestured to the area behind them. There, at the base of the steps leading up into the palace proper, members of the PDF were moving in trenches which were much better constructed and several bunkers. They also sported better weapons, they all were armed with lasguns and there were heavy weapons as well, a mixture of heavy stubbers and lasguns which required several people to operate. The worker continued speaking.

"They're the real soldiers, not us. We're just here to slow down whatever is coming. We're all going to die and not one of the frakkers cares!" Before Theobald could reply there was the sound of a round being chambered. They all turned to see what had made the sound and found an armored man wearing a long black coat over his armor pointing a bolt pistol at the complaining worker. Theobald shuddered, a member of the Adeptus Arbites, the dread enforcers of the Emperor's laws.

"Any more of that, scum, and I shall execute you for sedition." He raised his voice to address the whole of the militia line.

"That goes for the rest of you. You shall hold you tongues and the line. If you speak sedition, I'll kill you myself. If you run, I'll kill you myself and even if you get past me, the PDF troopers will shoot you. So the choice is yours; die fighting for the Emperor, or die as a coward!" Before anything else could be said the first blast hit the wall.

The wall shook and cracks appeared along that section of the wall. Theobald and those around him all flinched and tried to press themselves even further into the trench. More explosions hit the wall, as well as the sound of what seemed to be smaller weapons being shot at the wall. There were also cries accompanying the shooting, cries of the humans outside and deep, guttural bellows which sent chills down Theobald's spine. The cries and shooting intensified until, inevitably, sections of the wall came down and Theobald at last saw the enemy. Orks!

He had obviously never seen a real Ork, but he had seen them in the holo-films. They were always portrayed as stunted and stupid creatures, easily defeated by the heroic humans. These Orks looked nothing like them. They were massive creatures, each easily taller and burlier than the majority of the humans facing them. The leader of the group, a creature even taller and more heavily muscled than the rest of the creatures, looked at the humans for a moment and then threw backs its head.

"WAAAGH!" At its cry it and the others surged forward.

"FIRE!" The Arbites cried out. His cry shook the defenders, who had frozen in fright, out of their stupor and they began to fire at the oncoming attackers. All along the line there was the popping of autoguns, the crack of lasguns and the staccato bark of the Arbites's bolt pistol. Unfortunately their lack of training was clearly visible and despite the weight of firepower, few of the Orks went down.

The worker next Theobald was firing and cursing when several Orks sprayed down the trench with their crude-looking, but apparently, highly effective weapons. Some bullets tore through the dirt in front of the trench and others sailed over it. Theobald was thinking that the Orks' aim was as bad as theirs when the worker gave a scream and fell back, half his face blown off. That was it, Theobald could not take it anymore and was sick onto the bottom of the trench. Remembering the instructions he had been given he grabbed the weapon, nearly dropping it in his nervousness and brought it up and tried to fire. He tried to pull the trigger, but it wouldn't pull back. This sent him into full panic and caused him to hyperventilate.

What was wrong? Why wasn't it firing? It had worked for the worker, why wasn't it working for him? He fumbled with the weapon while trying to remember any prayers to the machine-spirit of a weapon which he had seen in the films. Just as he was about to give in to panic completely when he noticed that the safety had somehow been switched on. Switching it off he pointed it towards the Orks and pulled the trigger. This time the weapon fired. While the recoil was not strong, it was still startling. Still, Theobald found that he liked it. These creatures had invaded his world and destroyed his comfortable existence and caused him to feel a terror which he had never known a man could experience and at long last he could finally hurt them back for all that they had done to him.

He picked a target and started firing at it. Several shots went wide, but several hit the Ork. However; no matter how many times he hit the creature it would not go down. He was hitting it, he could see the blood, but the creature did not seem to notice the wounds which Theobald inflicted on it. Then the bark of the bolter sounded twice. The first shot tore a chunk out of the Ork's shoulder, the second demolished its head. The corpse took two more steps and then collapsed. The Orks were now pouring through the holes in ever increasing numbers and Theobald and the others no longer had timed to aim, nor any real need to, they simply fired into the mass of the oncoming foes.

Theobald kept firing until suddenly the trigger wouldn't pull all of the way back. Looking over the weapon Theobald saw that cartridge was jammed in the hole that they came out of after they were fired. It was blocking the others and so the autogun could not be fired. Without thinking he grabbed it to try to pull it free. However; it was very hot, and he drew his hand back with a yelp and blew on his burned fingers. A cry to the side drew his attention.

One of the Orks had reached the Arbites and was swinging a large metal blade at the man. The Arbites, had produced an electrified club of his own and, diving to the side to avoid the Ork's blow, struck at the Ork's knee. The blow connected and with a bellow of pain the Ork fell to one knee. The Arbites moved to strike again, but before he could strike again the Ork lashed out with a massive fist which caught the Arbites square in the chest, causing the man to double over, wheezing for breath. Before he could recover the Ork, rose, grabbed him and bit out his throat. Theobald, certain that the Ork was going to come after him next, tried without success, to get his weapon working again. The Ork did indeed turn towards Theobald; however, the Ork jerk as one of the heavy stubbers targeted it and the larger bullets tore its chest open and it fell to the ground dead.

Giving up on his useless weapon Theobald crawled from the trench and grabbed the dead Arbites's bolter, the man having no further need for it. It was smaller than his autogun, but still heavy. He turned to look for a target when he saw that the situation had drastically changed. The militia had been overrun in many places and the rest were running back towards the palace. The Arbites had said that the PDF would shoot any who ran, but that did not seem to be the case, they were not helping the militia flee, but neither were they hindering them as they made their way up the stairs and into the palace, though it did seem that some officers were attempting to rally them once they were inside the lines. That was all the prompting Theobald needed. He started running.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, how was it? I was trying to show his unfamiliar with weapons and I was inspired by the movie** _ **Enemy at the Gates**_ **as far as the distribution of weapons went** _ **.**_ **I figured that a world like this one would not have a mass of lasguns lying around so not only would there not be enough weapons to go around and most would be older. Do you think that is accurate? I was also trying to show how a man unfamiliar with combat would find the whole event terrifying I did not want him to simply overcome his fear just like that. Till next time please pray for the people of Texas in the flooding and all who need it. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad that you like the story so far, as always I own nothing.**

Once Theobald was behind the line of PDF troopers he was grabbed and pushed into a group of other militia who were milling about, seemingly aimlessly, in the entrance hall of the gubernatorial palace. Theobald had, of course, never been in the palace, a privilege reserved for the aristocracy and moneyed class of Haven. Having never seen it, Theobald would at times wonder what it would look like inside, even though he knew that it was pointless to do so. His imaginings; however, fell far short of the reality.

Though all he could see was the entryway, it was the most elaborate building he had ever been, far more than even the chapel which he had spent part of every morning of his life. Marble statues of saints and the ancestors of the governor lined the walls on both sides. The walls were covered paintings and overhead chandeliers hung from gilded wrought iron beams which held a ceiling of stained glass. His observations were interrupted by the sound of gunfire of the defenders, which had somehow faded into the background, increase in volume and tempo as it was joined by the fire of the Orks and their incessant war cries. Theobald and the others opened up with their weapons.

In truth, with all the flashes of weapons fire, the noise and general confusion, Theobald was not sure if he actually hit anything with his bolter. While the noise from all the weapons blended in with his own, the recoil from the weapon felt as if it was going to break his wrist. In fact it numbed his wrist to such an extent that it took him a moment to realize that it had stopped recoiling because it had run out of bullets. Once he realized this another, even more terrifying, realization struck him. When he had taken the bolter from the corpse of the Arbites he had forgotten to take any of the man's spare ammunition. He cursed. How could he have been so stupid! It would only have taken a moment to grab the ammunition! He had even seen them for Thrones sake! He looked around frantically, not sure what he was looking for, hoping that an answer would present itself. His search was interrupted by the frantic call of an officer.

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" The PDF began to break away from the defenses and began to retreat into the interior of the palace, the militia falling with them.

The interior of the palace was even more opulent than what Theobald had seen before, but he and the others were too busy trying to stay alive to notice. They tried to form a new defensive line, but the enemy was right on their heels and they did not have time to do so. The Orks hooted and howled with savage delight, blasting and hacking at the humans who fell behind. This did not help calm down the terrified humans, who were rapidly turning from a fighting force into a terrified, incoherent mass of humanity. As they fell back deeper and deeper into the palace people began to break off and flee down the many corridors. While this weakened them, it also helped them as some of the Orks broke off to chase the runners, which eased the pressure on the humans who remained.

Their flight ended when they came to a large pair of ornate doors which, despite their best efforts, they could not get open. Not having a choice they turned to face the foe. The Orks paused for moment, as if sensing that the chase had at last come to an end, then one of them, the largest, threw back its head and bellowed.

"WAAAGH!" With that the Orks surged forward. The humans got off one ragged volley and then the aliens were on them.

Theobald had never seen anything so terrifying, it was nothing like the holo-films. In those the Orks were weak and cowardly creatures and the brave humans beat them off with barely a scratch. The reality was completely different. The creatures towered over the humans and most were so muscular that they made the humans look like children trying to fight adults. It did not last long, bayonets, rifle butts and officer swords were not terribly effective against the Orks massive blades which were crude, but when driven by the creatures' massive muscles, extremely deadly. The humans fought back as hard as they could, but in the end it was for nothing and within minutes most of the humans were dead or dying. Theobald could take no, he saw a corridor which seemed empty and ran down. He ran as hard as he could, but he had never been conditioned to run, something which would have been considered undignified and he was soon out of breath. He also tripped over his scribe's robes several times and soon he was scuffed and bloody. He was also filling with self-loathing.

Preacher Pilzer had always preached that the Emperor despised cowards, men who would rather preserve their own lives than do their duty. They were to be shunned in life and suffer eternal torment in death. Theobald felt miserable; he knew he should go back, part of him even wanted to go back, but he remembered what he had seen and he was too terrified to go back. Fear before him, fear behind him. It was so unfair! He shouldn't be here! He had no business here! He was supposed to be at his desk! He was no soldier, never had been would and never would be! Throne! He had never even wanted to be one! Now here he was, dammed if did and literally damned if he didn't. Tears of fear and rage filled his eyes and despite his best efforts to control himself, he began to cry. He might have gone on doing so if he hadn't heard the sounds of someone approaching. Not knowing who, or what, was coming and he crouched up against the wall and looked around the corner.

It was a group of humans, some carrying weapons and others carrying chests. The ones carrying weapons were a mixture of PDF troopers and…Theobald's breath caught in his throat. Sisters of Battle! The warrior maidens of the God-Emperor! He had never seen them, but Theobald had known that they were on the planet. A small contingent of them were stationed at the Grand Cathedral, the greatest place of worship on all of Haven. They were there to guard the finger bone of Saint Angovan, the missionary who had brought Haven and many of the worlds in the surrounding systems back into the fold of Imperial Creed and apart from its shipping routes the main source of revenue for Haven came from all the pilgrims who came to see it. However; despite the sight of the Sisters of Battle, it was not them which drew his attention, instead it was the two men in the center of the group. Though he had never seen either of them in the flesh, he had seen numerous images of them.

The first, swathed in robes of purple off-world silk with a fur-fringed collar, was none other than Clodius Albinus, the governor of Wayfarer's Haven. He was heavier than the images showed him when he made speeches or other public appearances. Even at a distance Theobald could see that the governor was afraid. He was sweating and his eyes darted about as if expecting the Orks to appear and attack him and his party. Then Theobald's eyes locked on the second man and the governor was pushed from his mind. The second man was none other than the spiritual leader of Haven: Cardinal Wilreich Kant.

He had come to Haven several years ago, an event which had caused much covert discussion among the general population. While Haven was an important planet in its own way, it had never had such a high-ranking member of the Adeptus Ministorum before. Theobald had tried to avoid participating in such talk, considering it impious and because of the possibility of the talk being overheard and reported, but while he did not speak, he did hear. Especially the tale told by Troilus Laski, a fellow clerk, but one who worked for Lady Gabriele Jome, who provided the finest courtesans on the planet to the rich and powerful.

He said that she said that some of the girls hired for parties which Cardinal Kant had attended had heard Cardinal Kant, when he had had a little too much to drink, stating that he was a distant relative of the Ecclesiarch and had even been considered as a potential heir to the position. The reason he had been sent to Haven, according to his ramblings, was that he had fallen afoul of the schemes of his jealous and bitter rivals. These had plotted and schemed against him and had engineered a completely false scandal which had resulted in his unofficial exile to an unimportant planet like Haven.

He was a tall man and thin to the point of emaciation, though his face did display signs of drink. He wore his clerical robes which, while elaborate, were in a state of disarray, as if he had dressed in a hurry and his clothing were slightly eschewed. He leaned on his symbol of office, a tall staff topped by a golden Aquila and appeared to be exhorting the rest of the party to move with greater speed, all the while his eyes flicked down all the side passages, as if he too was expecting an attack from any direction. This caused him to lock eyes with Theobald. Both men stared at one another, but before either could react the Orks attacked. They barreled out of one of the side passages and without hesitation charged the governor and the others.

The PDF troopers began shooting wildly in a blind panic and many of their shots went wild and did little damage to the advancing Orks. The Sisters of Battle, on the other hand, were a different matter altogether. Though there were only six of them they formed up into a line and opened fire, sending waves of disciplined fire into the attackers. There fire was far more effective than the PDF's had been and the first wave of attackers were cut down, as were a number of those directly behind them. However; these efforts did not discourage the advancing attackers and there simply was not enough Sisters of Battle to halt them.

As the Orks closed with them some of the PDF troopers broke and ran, but none of the Sisters did. One produced a chainsword and the others drew combat knives. The one with the sword took the head off of one Orks and the other Sisters gutted several more. In the end it was for naught and they were soon pulled down and butchered, along with the PDF troopers who had not run. Turning his eyes away from the carnage he saw Governor Albinus and Cardinal Kant and their servants in flight down the hall. One of the servants tripped and fell, dropping the chest he had been carrying. The chest burst open and coins spilled over the floor. The cardinal cursed him and struck him across the face. He might have done more, but the Orks were moving towards them and there was no time. The party fled out of sight, with the Orks hard on their heels.

Theobald waited several minutes, afraid to move lest he attract attention from the Orks. At last he determined that it was probably safe and moved. He slowly approached the bodies and determined that they were all dead. He lay down his empty bolt pistol and picked up one of the bolters of the dead Sisters. He felt uneasy as these were the sacred warriors of the Church, with weapons blessed to their service. Still, he needed weapons more than they did and surely the Emperor would understand. Just to be sure he said a prayer as he took the weapon. He also took one of their belts and hung as many magazines as he could place on it. He then took the chainsword and one of the combat knives. Now that he was armed again he had to decide what to do.

He remembered the shame that he had felt earlier at his cowardice and he knew he should go back, but he was afraid. He had just witnessed Orks butchered Sisters of Battle, blessed of the Emperor himself. If he had not protected them, who were far more pious than he was, why would he protect Theobald, or indeed, anyone else in the palace? Nevertheless, it was his duty to go back. The guilt burned inside him and he knew that if he failed to go back he was sure that it would double and he would never be free of it. He didn't want to, but he knew that he had to do it. He took a deep breath in an effort to slow his rapidly beating heart. It failed, but he took off anyway.

Retracing his steps he kept his ears open for the sounds of combat, but he heard nothing, he was not sure if that was a bad thing or a good thing. When he at last reached the place where the battle had taken place he found nothing but bodies. The doors which had trapped them had been ripped apart. It was clear that the battle had ended in victory for the Orks and they were even now forcing their way deeper into the palace. He thought about seeing the governor and the cardinal fleeing. It was clear that the palace was lost and if he stayed he was a dead man. He did not know much about military tactics, but he was certain that once the Orks took the palace they would then attack the rest of the city. From what he had seen he did not doubt that the rest of the city would fall as well. He did not know if they would then attack the smaller farming communities on the rest of the planet, but even if he did not he doubted that he would be able to get to them. Still, there was hope.

Theobald and the others had been told their entire lives that the lords of the Imperium, who ruled in the Emperor's name would never permit the filth of the xenos to pollute any of the Emperor's worlds. He was sure that an army would be assembled to drive the Orks from Haven. He just had to stay alive until they arrived. But where could he go? He thought for a moment and then it hit him and it seemed so obvious that he was not sure why he had not thought of it before. The Ruins!

He knew many, if not most, of the ways in and out of the Ruins. If he could get there then the Orks would never find him. He could hide there until reinforcements arrived to liberate the planet. Having made his decision he rose up and started to make his way out of the palace, or tried to. During their retreat they had taken several turns and Theobald found that he did not know how exactly the way out of the palace. Not sure what else to do he headed off in an effort to retrace the group's steps. He had not gone far when he heard a scream from one of the side passages.

Theobald paused. Parted of him wanted to ignore the cry and keep going. What could he do anyway aside from getting killed too? He half turned to move away and then paused. He remembered the feeling of guilt for running before and he found that he could not turn away again. He turned and moved down the passage towards the sound of the scream. He moved slowly, afraid to run into whatever was going on, but at last he looked around a corner and saw that he had found the source of the screaming. Several people, palace servants by the look of their clothing, were being driven along by an Ork and four creatures that looked like small Orks. The Ork had some form of autogun while the smaller ones all had knives and whips, the latter of which they used with great enthusiasm on the humans. One of these tripped and fell and the little ones all lay into him, lashing him till he bled and he was screaming in pain.

The sight filled Theobald with rage. Without thinking he brought the bolter up and fired. The recoil was greater than he expected and it quickly through off his aim and sent several up into the ceiling before he remembered to take his finger off of the trigger. His actions had taken everyone preset by surprise and that gave him a chance to recover and survey the damage his attack had done. He had killed one of the creatures and the explosive rounds had taken the right arm of another one off at the shoulder and it was on the floor screeching in agony. His attention was taken from the smaller creatures by a roar from the Ork as it raised its weapon aimed it at Theobald.

He ducked back around the corner and seconds later a hail of bullets thudded into the wall. He cursed himself for not targeting the Ork first instead of letting his anger lead him to waste his surprise attack on the smaller creatures. The Ork's fire suddenly stopped and he heard the creature curse. Not sure what was going on, but determined to take advantage of whatever had prevented the Ork from continuing to fire. He rounded the corner and, knowing what was coming this time, braced the bolter and then fired. While his aim still left much to be desired the Ork was a large target and the range was not great. The explosive rounds struck the Ork and detonated and nocked it to the ground, its torso a mass of bloody meat. The remaining uninjured smaller creatures turned and fled. Slightly stunned himself Theobald just stared at the Ork's body. He then turned to look at the humans he had saved.

There were a dozen of them, eight men and four women. As he had seen earlier they were all wearing the clothing of servants, kitchen staff by the look of them. As two of them looked after the man the creatures had been beating the others all looked at Theobald with hopeful and expectant expressions. For a moment he did not know what they were waiting for and then it hit him, they were waiting for him to tell them what to do. For a moment he was stunned and then his experience leading the scribes reasserted itself. He strode forward, attempting to both look confident and try to decide what to do. Fortunately he remembered something from the films which seemed appropriate. He locked eyes with the biggest of the men.

"What's your name?"

"Alonso Sir." The man replied. Theobald wasn't sure if Alonso recognized his senior position or was just acting out of reflex. It did not matter, as long as Alonso and the others took orders. He pointed to the dead Ork's weapon.

"Take that." The man looked uneasy.

"It is xeno tech. It is not sanctified." While Theobald understood the man's unease, there was no time for arguments. More Orks could come at any time, they had to move and they needed weapons.

"Fine then," he said, trying to make his voice as harsh as possible; "Then when we run into more of those creatures use only your sanctified fists. I am sure that that will work out wonderfully for you." Alonso and the others flinched at his tone, but it had the desired result. Alonso gingerly took the weapon off of the body and gathered all the bullets that he could see. While he did this the others gathered up the knives which the creatures had dropped. Now armed as best they could the group began to move.

"Where are we going?" One of the men asked.

"We need to get out of the palace." Theobald replied. At his words one of the women stopped.

"We can't go this way." Theobald turned to look at her. She was in her middle years and was dressed slightly better than the others, indicating that she was a senior servant.

"Why not?" She flushed, clearly not used to having to engage in such a conversation, she was far more likely to either giving or receiving orders. Still, she pushed ahead.

"Before the governor left to lead the defenses I heard someone say that the…the Orks had taken the main entrance. There is no way that we can get out that way." Theobald silently cursed. If they could not get out that way than he knew of no other way. He had not missed what she had said about the governor, but decided that there was nothing to be gained by saying anything. Instead he tried to focus on finding a solution to the problem of how to get out of the palace.

"Is there another way out?" He asked the group as a whole.

There is the servants' entrance…" one of the men began, but the others cut him off.

"Are you daft Fulton?" Alonso broke in, exasperation in his voice.

"We were grabbed by those creatures and the others killed when we tried to get to it. The way is swarming with Orks."

"Is there no other way out?" For a moment none of them said anything. At last the youngest looking of the men spoke up.

"We might try to get to the garage on the west wing of the palace." The younger of the women objected.

"But isn't there fighting between there and here?" One of the other men spoke for the first time.

"We…we could go through the upper levels on the west wing and then decent to the garage." The man responded while the others looked at him as if he was speaking nonsense.

"We can't do that!" The older woman objected. "Those floors are forbidden to the servants!" The man glared at her.

"I know that Bethel! But we do not have a choice! Everywhere there are people there is fighting. That part of the palace has few people; so if there is anywhere in the palace where there will be few, if any, Orks there it will be that way." There did not appear to be anything more to be said and they all looked to Theobald, clearly waiting for him to make a decision. In truth the idea of entering a forbidden area make him uneasy, but he had to appear strong to keep their confidence.

"Alright, we'll go that way." He looked at the young man.

"What is your name?"

"Forbin. Forbin Enote."

"Well Forbin, lead the way." He turned to look at Alonso.

"You, take the rear and if you see anything which isn't human, shoot it." With that they set off.

The going was slow, pausing at every sound and having to hide several times as groups of Orks passed by. Fortunately it seemed as if the fighting had mostly come to an end and the Orks had begun to break up in order to loot. They were also helped by the fact that there were a number of passages hidden inside the walls. These had been placed there in order that servants could move through the palace without being seen by their superiors. While this was a far safer way to travel, it could be unnerving as well. They could hear the Orks on the other side of the wall and Theobald kept expecting a hail of bullets to tear into them. That did not happen; however, and they continued on.

They found themselves climbing seemingly endless flights of stairs. Till they at last they came to a door. Bethel came forward and produced a key to unlock the door and then moved aside as Theobald, weapon at the ready, took the lead and stepped through. The room was windowless, but brightly lit by illumination globes hanging from the ceiling. Instead of chairs there were plump cushions lying scattered and ornate beds across the walls. Across the floor trays of food and pitchers of wine. While the room was empty, the scattered nature of the furniture and the fact that much of the food and wine had been spilled on the floor suggested that the inhabitants had fled in haste.

"Where are we?" Theobald asked. Bethel gave a slight sniff.

"These are the residents of the governor's…female companions." She quickly began heading towards the room's only door.

"This way." Going through it they found themselves in a wide hallway, its walls white with gilding. Paintings hung all along both walls and appeared to be primarily of the governor and his ancestors, though he said nothing Theobald could not help but note that the governor looked far more heroic in the paintings than he had in real life. His musings were interrupted by the sounds of a struggle up ahead. The others all stopped and looked at Theobald, clearly waiting for him to tell them what to do. He pointed to Forbin.

"You, come with me." He then turned to Alonso.

"Stay here and guard the others. If we are not back in five minutes, or if you hear someone who is not us coming get out of here." Having received an affirmative nod he and Forbin set off. They soon came upon a large set of double doors which had been ripped off their hinges. Entering they beheld a scene of carnage.

The room was clearly the governor's bed room, the center of the room being dominated by a canopied bed on raised platform. The rest of the room was equally lavish, but it was the inhabitants of the room, both living and dead. The dead were mostly human women and while some of them were dressed in a manner similar to Bethel most wore far more elaborate gowns and jewelry. What caught the two men's attention; however, were the Orks at the back of the room.

There were four of these and they were standing in a semi-circle around a corner, their backs to the door, clapping and hooting with delight. Inside the circle were several of the smaller creatures and one human woman in a tattered white dress, which contrasted with her dark skin. The creatures were cackling with delight as the circled her, dashing in to cut at her with their knives. Theobald was sure the woman would be cut down before he could do anything, but she surprised him.

As one of the creatures came at her she moved to the side and then launched a kick at the creature, her dress having high slits which allowed free movements to her legs. Her blow was expertly aimed and struck the creature full in the neck. There was an audible crack and it fell to the floor, its neck clearly broken. Before the other creatures could react the woman turned and struck out with her fist, breaking the nose of one of the other creatures. Shaking off his surprise Theobald raised his weapon and fired.

Explosive shells tore two of their backs open and they fell to the floor before they could react. Before he could bring his weapon to bear on the others they turned and opened fire, forcing him and Forbin to dive to the side. Fortunately their aim seemed be rather poor and the majority of the shots went wide. Theobald dived behind a couch of some sort. Unfortunately the couch was more decorative than sturdy and it was soon being torn apart by the Orks' fire.

"OVER HERE YOU WALKING PILES OF FILTH!" The cry had come from Forbin, who had taken refuge behind a decorative pillar and had then popped out to give his cry. His cry caused the remaining two Orks to turn and fire at him, driving him back behind the pillar. Despite this, his actions had had the desired result of giving Theobald an opening which he took. He popped up from behind the couch and opened fire.

He did not have much time to aim and many of his shots went wide. A few of his shots did find their target and the head of one Ork exploded. Another round took the other Ork in the knee. It fell to the ground with a bellow of rage, dropping its weapon which landed several feet from the creature. As it reached for the gun Theobald brought up his weapon and fired a short burst into its head. He would have fired more rounds, but his weapon clicked empty. Rising he turned the weapon around in an effort to figure out how to reload the weapon. Fortunately it bore some similarities to the autoguns which they had been issued and he was able to find the button to eject the empty magazine and load in a fresh one.

"Not bad." He did not recognize the voice, which bore a strange accent which he had never heard before. He looked up and saw that the woman had come up to him, apparently having sent the remaining creatures to join their fellows in death. Up close Theobald saw that the woman was as tall as he was and was burlier than he was, though not grotesquely so. Her skin was not merely dark, but literally jet black, as was her hair. It was her eyes; however, which drew his attention. They were red, not just red, but were also glowing. Such a thing could not be natural and in a way he found it to be more unnerving than the Orks. They were clearly something…well _alien._ They were supposed to be different and strange. That this woman was human and yet still looked so different was just wrong. In an effort to cover his discomfort he tried to think of something to say.

"I am Theobald Traub. Who are you?"

"I am La'lek. Concubine to Governor Clodius Albinus. When the attack began he left me and my sisters," here she gestured to the bodies of the humans around them; "To fend for ourselves." She looked at the dead, a sorrowful expression on her face.

"Unfortunately the others were not so good at fighting. To be honest, I would not have lasted much longer if you had not come. Once I dealt with those little creatures the big ones would have moved in." She looked at Theobald, taking in his now torn robe.

"Are you from the PDF?" She asked, in a tone which suggested that she seriously doubted it. Theobald gave a shrug and a slightly sheepish grin.

"Well…technically I am a member of the PDF. However; at the moment, we are more interested into how to get out of the palace. Care to join?" Before she could reply Forbin broke in.

"We can't take her! Look at her! She's a bloody mutant!" Before Theobald could reply she turned on Forbin, her eyes blazing with anger which made her seem even more inhuman.

"I was born in the city of Heliosa on the planet of Nocturne, homeworld of the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter! Are prepared to say that any entire Chapter of the Emperor's sons are mutants!" Her words and the vehemence with which they were delivered seemed to deflate Forbin. Theobald, eager to find something to distract them, looked at the dead Orks and then addressed the other two.

"Gather their weapons and ammunition. I think that there should be enough for everyone as some of them seem to have more than one." They stared at him for a moment and then set about it. The weapons were as crude as the one that Alonso carried, but there was indeed enough of them for all the members to have at least one. While Theobald had some doubts about their ability to use them effectively he had to acknowledge that his own marksmanship was not much to brag about and inaccurate shooting was better than trying to fight the Orks with knives and bare hands.

They rejoined the others without incident. With the exception of Bethel, who seemed familiar with her, the others all had reactions to La'lek of varying degrees of similarity to Forbin. No one said anything and all accepted the weapons that they had brought. The possession of weapons, even Ork ones, seemed to improve the spirits of the others and they followed Theobald as they passed the governor's quarters and moved toward the restricted area of the palace.

One of the first things that Theobald noticed was that there was far less light than in other parts of the palace. Also, whatever was here was clearly important and the Orks were after it. There were several armored doors which had been ripped or blasted open. In addition to the doors there had been other security measures taken. Smashed skulls with guns attached to them lay scattered on the floor, along with a number of dead Orks. However; there was something missing, after a moment it came to him. There were no humans, whatever it was that was here the governor did not seem inclined to trust it to human guardians. They proceeded farther down the winding corridors, when they again heard the sound of gunfire ahead of them. Theobald looked at the others, they seemed as scared as he was, but they did not really have a choice, they readied their weapons and moved on.

They found the Orks breaking down a pair of ornate doors which seemed strangely out of place in the dark passageway. The doors were badly damaged and would give way soon. Theobald had planned to repeat the earlier tactic of launching a surprise attack before they could react, but before they could begin to shoot the Orks spotted them and they turned and opened fire on the humans. One of the men, Theobald had never gotten his name, was cut down before the others were able to fall back around the corner. Theobald hoped that the enemy fire would die down once they saw that the humans could no longer be targeted, but that was not the case, if anything the Orks' fire seemed to increase. It seemed that the doors' resistance had frustrated the Orks and they were thrilled to shoot at something to relieve their frustration. Their fire was so intense that it was clear that any effort to return fire would result in the remaining humans joining their dead colleague. Then the largest of the Orks started to scream.

It dropped its weapon and began running around, beating its head and screaming in pain. The other Orks also stopped firing and stared at the screamer, clearly unsure about what was going and what to do about it. The humans were also stunned and slightly unnerved by this bizarre development. Alonso was the first to recover. Staying in a crouching position he poked around the corner and opened fire. His actions galvanized the others into action as well and they joined in. Taken off guard the Orks were overwhelmed, though it took a considerable number of shots before they finally went down. Once the last one went down Theobald and the others turned their attention to the damaged doors. Despite the damage that had been done to them one of them was still able to open and a man emerged into view.

He was like no man Theobald had ever seen before. He was a tall man, taller even than Theobald, with pasty gray skin. He was swathed in layered purple and white robes. His head was completely free of hair and he was so emaciated he appeared skeletal and leaned heavily on a tall staff. It was none of these things; however, which drew their gaze, it was his eyes. He had none. In their place bionic eyes clicked and whirred. Those with Theobald drew back and he felt fear as well, though he had never seen the…man he knew what he was: a psyker! A being touched by the Warp! The man turned his eyes towards Theobald and he had to fight down the urge to flinch as he felt a sensation of invisible fingers sliding across his brain.

"Who are you?" Theobald managed after a moment. The man replied in voice which was slightly raspy, as if he was not often called on to use it.

"My name is Emil Godwinne, Choir-Master Telepathica of the governor's Astropathic Choir." Theobald was not entirely sure what the title meant, but it sounded important. More importantly, he was an astropath and could answer an important question that he had.

"Has anyone answered the Governor's distress signal? Are reinforcements coming?" The man looked at him, clearly confused.

"What message are you talking about? The Governor has not charged me to deliver any message." Theobald and the others stared at him, too stunned to speak for a moment.

"Emperor's blood man!" Forbin yelled; "Warp-cursed Orks are overrunning the whole planet!" He pointed to the bodies of the dead Orks.

"Their right there for Throne's sake!"

"I know their here." Godwinne stated in a slightly annoyed tone of voice.

"I sensed them and used my powers on them. I simply was not informed of their presence before they started trying to force their way through the sanctum's door. I have received no word from the Governor, neither have I been given any message for the Choir to send." His words struck Theobald like a blow from one of the Orks.

No message had been sent. The Imperium did not know of Haven's peril, which meant no army was being raised to save them. Even if they made it to the Ruins what good would it do? The Orks would overrun the world and they would be trapped there till they were found or worse. For a moment he wanted to fall to the floor and cry with despair, but he didn't. He had already survived more than he had ever thought that he could. That thought filled him with confidence, he had overcome every difficulty he had faced so far and he would find a way to survive this one as well. He returned his attention Godwinne.

"The world has been invaded by Orks. We need to send a message to…the appropriate authorities that this has happened so that reinforcements can be dispatched. Can you do that?" He had almost admitted that he did not know who to send the message to, but he had stopped himself. He did not want the others to see him out of his depth and he was sure that Godwinne would know who to send the message to.

"I can," Godwinne said; "However; it may take some time for the message to be sent and received." At this the younger woman, who had been looking nervously down the hall, turned back to look at the others.

"We don't have time for that! More of them could come here at any time!" She was right and Theobald knew it. It appeared that there was only one solution and they had to implement it fast. He looked directly into Godwinne's artificial eyes.

"We are getting out of here and you and your choir are coming with us. Once we are safe you can send your message." Godwinne and the others all looked at him as if he had just grown a second head.

"Are you mad!?" Alonso demanded.

"We can't take them! Their all warped-touched!"

"Are you mad?!" Godwinne demanded.

"They are astropaths! Most of them cannot live long outside of their sanctuary!" Theobald felt the younger woman's fear starting to affect him and that made him inclined to be somewhat snappish. He spun to face Alonso.

"If we don't take them they will not be able to send a message. No message no relief and the Orks eventually find and kill us!" He then rounded on face Godwinne again.

"You say that they cannot survive outside of their sanctuary. Well, how long will they last when the Orks come back and break their way in?" Neither of them seemed to have any response so Theobald took their silence as consent. After a moment Godwinne nodded and motioned them through the damaged doors.

Inside was a room which, despite its size, was rather cramped. The room was full of machines, incense burners and servo-skulls chanting recorded devotional passages. All seemed centered around six pods which seemed almost coffin-like. Their tops were transparent and within each lay a person clad in a green robe. There were five men and one woman. Like Godwinne they lacked eyes, though unlike him they did not have mechanical replacements. Godwinned summoned several servitors and instructed them to release the astropaths from their pods. The pods were opened and the astropaths stirred, as if just awaking from sleep. As they had no eyes Theobald saw that they would need help and instructed the others to act as guides. They did not seem terribly happy about, but at least for now they were willing to follow his orders.

For some time they did not meet any more Orks, other than the astropaths the section of the palace that they were in seemed to be abandoned for the most part and so there was little that would tempt any of the Orks. After a while they began their decent down to the lower levels. As they continued down they again to hear the sound of fighting going on. Never the less, they did not actually meet any more Orks until they came to the garage itself.

It was a vast, cavernous space which seemed big enough to hold all the vehicles that Theobald had seen since all the madness had begun. Unfortunately, they were not alone. A number of Orks and the smaller creatures were already there, apparently stripping down vehicles and grabbing whatever they could find lying around. One of the small creatures saw them and gave a shrieking cry and pointed towards them. The whole group of Orks and their servants all turned and started to fire, driving Theobald and the others to take cover. Unfortunately Bethel was not fast enough and she was nearly torn in half by the hail of gunfire. The human efforts were also hindered by having to shepherd the astropaths into shelter. This allowed the Orks to get far closer than Theobald would have liked.

He thought at first that the Orks would also take cover and use their superior firepower to deal with the humans, but they did not. With a bellowing cry the Orks surged forward. The humans fired wildly but still managed to bring several down and Godwinne chanted something that Theobald could not understand and one of the Orks fell to the ground, blood pouring from eyes and ears. The humans efforts proved to be in vain, the remaining Orks kept charging. Theobald dropped his bolter and tore at the chainsword at his belt, frantically praying to the Emperor to show him how to activate it. However; before he could activate his weapon, or the Orks could reach them, another force joined the battle.

With deep bellows which sounded like enraged cattle a knot of beings which Theobald recognized as Ogryns charged into the Orks' flank. They looked like men, but were far too big. They seemed to stand nearly twice as tall as a normal man were far bulkier, having both enormous muscles and panaches. Their faces were also wrong as well, being lumpy and several sporting large tusk-like teeth. Despite their appearance they were clearly strong and they plowed into the Orks. None of them had guns, instead they wielded pipes, chains and other improvised weapons. Behind them came a number of normal humans clad in coveralls. They too had no guns and were also armed with a variety of tools from the garage.

The Ogryns reached the Orks first and though few in number, there were less than a dozen of them, they were devastating. They were taller than many of the Orks and far stronger. Theobald watched in stunned disbelief as one of them picked an Ork up and tore its head from its body. Blows and bullets thudded into them, but for the most part the large beings seemed to not really notice them and only one went down while for than twenty Orks fell to them, the workmen and Theobald's group. It proved too much for the Orks and they broke and fled. For a moment the humans all stared at one another. Deciding to take the initiative and stepped forward, careful to keep the Ogryns, who were now staring around looking somewhat confused, at a distance.

"I am Theobald Traub of the Planetary Defense Force. Who is in charge here?" One of the men in coveralls stepped forward. He was a large man of middle years, with thinning red hair and had clearly spent his life doing manual labor.

"I suppose I am. The name's Roland, head of the garage workers and if you permit me to say so you don't look much like a member of the PDF." Theobald gave a small smile.

"I wasn't till this morning." His grin faded.

"The palace is lost and we are getting out of here." He indicated the astropaths, who were now being guided out from their shelter.

"The governor was unable to get a message sent in time so we need to get to the Ruins. Once there we can send a message about the invasion and hold off the Orks till reinforcements arrive. You and your…associates are welcome to come along." He supposed that he should have made that last part an order, but he did not want to risk angering the large beings. Fortunately the man seemed to be of a mind to take up Theobald on his offer.

"Sounds good to me. No point in sitting around here waiting for the greenies to come and get us." He turned to the men who had come with him.

"Alright boys and girls, we're getting out of here." He then turned to one of the Ogryns.

"We are leaving Hob and the Emperor wants you to come with us." The Ogryn smiled dimly and nodded.

"Ok Boss." Roland turned to Theobald.

"Let's get out of here." Theobald nodded and started towards the doors leading out.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it took so long. I am sure that you may be wondering when the Rogue Trading is going to happen. Well I wanted to show how he gained the skills to be a Rogue Trader, gaining the ability to think independently and lose some of his faith in the Imperium and realize that the Emperor does not always protect. Now for the next chapter which would you prefer: extensive details on his insurgency, or would you rather skip to his elevation? Till next time please pray for the people of Puerto Rico and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad that you liked the last chapter and I hope that you like this one too, I own nothing.**

Once they were out of the garage they found themselves in the grounds encompassed by the palace walls. Everywhere he looked Theobald saw signs of combat. Bodies, both human and Ork, lay everywhere. Weapons littered the ground and smoke billowed up from destroyed vehicles, darkening the sky and making it hard to breathe at times. Despite the conditions and the sense of urgency which they all felt, Roland and many of those with him moved among the dead to gather up weapons dropped by the dead humans. The humans with Theobald also scavenged among the dead, seeking to replace their Ork weapons, which had proven extremely unreliable.

Theobald had hoped for lasguns, but there were few of these. The humans had mostly been members of the militia and so they had been armed with autoguns, the only exceptions being a few lasguns and laspistols. The only ones who seemed content with the Ork weapons were Hob and the other Ogryns. Instead of ranged weapons they seemed to prefer the melee weapons, which consisted of giant clubs and large, crude blades. Once the new arms and ammunition had been gathered they set off. They retraced the rout that Theobald had taken when he first came to the palace. The trucks were all either destroyed or gone so they had to walk.

It took far longer than Theobald had anticipated. While the trip in the truck had not seemed to take that long it was far longer on foot. Neither Theobald nor Roland and his people were used to walking long distances. The servants, on the other hand, appeared to have built up considerable stamina due to a lifetime of walking through the palace and up the various levels. Theobald could not tell about La'lek and the Ogryns, if they were tired they gave no sign of it and just kept walking. The ones who had it the worst were Godwinne and his fellow astropaths. They clearly rarely, if ever left their chamber and their profession was clearly one which was physically draining. It was not long before they were too exhausted to continue and they had to be carried by Hob and his fellows. Even with their superior stamina the others were all tired as well from running and fighting throughout the entire day and it was well after dark before they finally reached the armory.

They found it abandoned, a fact which Theobald found to be disappointing as he had been hoping that an officer of the PDF who could take control of the group. That not being the case, he had to figure out what to do next. Knowing that time was of the essence he turned to Godwinne.

"Can you and your astropaths send your message now?" The man looked doubtful.

"I don't know. We can attempt to do so, but they are tired and hungry and so am I. To cast our minds into the Warp is a taxing procedure. If we were to try now we would likely accomplish nothing but exhausting ourselves and accomplishing nothing. It would be better to wait till we have eaten and rested before we attempt a sending." One of the servants, Fulton if Theobald recalled correctly, heard what they said and interjected.

"We cannot stay here. If the Orks know about this place they will come here. We need to keep moving." Theobald looked from one group to another, trying to decide what to do.

He knew that Fulton was correct, the place was indeed a likely target for the invaders and if they came in force the humans would have no chance of holding them off, even now that all of them were armed. One the other hand, they were tired, the astropaths especially, and they still had a long way to go before they reached the Ruins and he did not think that they would have the strength to navigate the Ruins. Having taken all of these factors into consideration he made his decision and turned his head to address all those present in turn.

"We can't stay here all night, but we are tired as well. We'll rest here for an hour and then we'll move on." He looked at the servants, who seemed to have more energy than the others.

"Look around and see if there is anything that we can use." They nodded and started to move off to search the building. As they did so Roland came up to Theobald.

"My people will be glad for the rest, but we should have some guards posted just in case." Feeling chagrined, Theobald nodded. How could he have failed to think of something so blindingly obvious? Fortunately La'lek, who had clearly heard the conversation and chose to interject herself into it.

"I can take the first watch with some of the others and keep an eye open and if we see anything." She broke off, tapping the autogun she had picked up. Theobald started to follow her.

"I should take a watch as well." But La'lek held up her hand while shaking her head.

"That will not be necessary." She tapped the right side of her head near her eye.

"My people see better in the dark than most. Besides, you are the leader, you need a clear head and for that you need some sleep." Theobald did not disagree, in truth he was very tired and had not been looking forward to spending more time watching for the green horrors. He sat down and leaned against a wall and was fast asleep in seconds.

He was awaken an hour later by someone shaking his shoulder. Despite sleeping for an hour he found that he felt even more tired than before he had gone to sleep. He forced himself to his feet, he felt sore and stiff and all he wanted to do was lie back down and go to sleep. That; however, was not an option and he tried to force his tired brain to think. In an effort to focus he looked around till he saw Alonso.

"Did you find anything that we can use?"

"We didn't find any more weapons, but we did find some rations and bottled water." At his words Theobald's stomach gave a loud rumble and he found that he was both hungry and thirsty. From the expressions on the faces of those around him it appeared that he was far from the only one. Theobald, his mind returning to thoughts of the Orks, wanted to press on, but one look was all that it took to convince him that he would be unable to persuade the others to follow that course of action. They would have to eat before they set off again.

They formed a line and each received one ration bar and a bottle of water. Some had wanted more, but Roland had pointed out that they needed to conserve and Theobald backed him up, there was some grumbling but it appeared that, at least for the moment his leadership would not be questioned. After they had eaten several men went to replace La'lek and the others so that they could eat as well. Once that was done the group set off.

By now it was fully dark, additionally the power had been knocked out during the battle so there were no lights, neither street lights nor lights in any of the building lining the street. Fortunately, though their progress was slowed by the darkness, there did not appear to have been any fighting in the area so in addition to there being no Orks the streets were intact and were free of rubble and so they were able to make their way unimpeded. At last they reached Theobald's hab block and while they were all tired they were nearly to the Ruins. He looked around, looking and listening but seeing and hearing nothing. He had never seen the area so quiet, even when he stayed in the Ruins till after dark. There had been light and traffic, though much reduced, had continued all through the night, now there was nothing. It was unnerving and now that he thought about it he realized that he had not seen any of the other people he lived with were, or even if any of them were still alive. He knew that there was nothing that he could do for them and he tried to banish thoughts of them from his mind and focus on the present. He turned towards the others, when the sound of engines reached his ears, engines which sounded nothing like any of the engines which he had ever heard before. He looked at the others and he saw that they all realized what the sounds represented, the Orks were coming!

"Everyone move!" Theobald shouted to the others. As they began to run down the street Theobald realized that they had no chance of escaping as they were. They were on foot while the Orks were in vehicles, additionally they were tired hungry and burdened with the astropaths, who were by far the slowest members of the group. If they were going to have any chance of escaping they would have to change tactics fast.

"Breakup!" He yelled to those around him.

"Scatter and into the hab bloks! We'll try to avoid them and then meet up later!" Some of the others looked as if they might have argued, but the sound of the Ork vehicles rapidly drawing closer silenced any debate. They broke up into groups, with each group consisting of those closest to each other and bolted into the various buildings that lined the street.

Theobald found himself with several of Roland's people and one of the astropaths, a youth who, despite his hangered appearance, looked to be younger than Theobald. He did not know if they had been seen by the Orks, but he was not inclined to take chances. He had them move up several levels and then he moved to the window so that he could look down onto the street. A quick glance was enough to show that the others had already taken refuge as well. Just then the Ork vehicles came into view.

There were more of them than he had realized, around thirty vehicles, each crammed so full of Orks and the smaller creatures that many seemed to be in danger of falling out. The vehicles ground to a halt and the aliens began to force the humans out. Once they were on the street they began to fan out and moving towards the various buildings.

"Are they looking for us?" Theobald was not sure. He wished that he could talk to the others, the Orks did not appear to be moving towards his group at the moment, but he could not see if that was true for the others. Then inspiration struck him and he turned to the astropath.

"Astropath," he said, realizing he did not know the astropath's name; "Can you contact the other astropaths?" The youth nodded. He sank into a cross-legged position and dropped his head. The air seemed to shimmer around him and Theobald and the others drew back. Theobald; however, forced himself to step towards the psyker, he could not let his fear show if he was to stay in command of the situation. He crouched down in front of the astropath and began to speak.

"Contact your brethren, find out if they have been seen." The astropath nodded and seemed to sink into himself. For a moment there was silence and then the astropath raised his head to look at Theobald with his sightless eyes.

"They are in hiding, the Orks have not seen them." Theobald nodded and went back to look out the window.

Now that the fear of being discovered had, somewhat, assuaged for the moment he was able to take in more details of what the Orks were doing. The smaller creatures were swarming into the various and while some of the Orks joined them, the majority of the larger creatures remained with the vehicles. Soon the small ones began to emerge bearing with them all manner of odds and ends and began to load them into the vehicles. It appeared that the Orks had come to salvage what they could, no doubt to be used in their ongoing war efforts. This was both good and bad. The creatures were not actively looking for them true, but if they intended to strip the whole area they would be found eventually. He had not been able to get a complete count, but he had seen that the Orks and their servants greatly outnumbered Theobald and his band, if it came to battle it would quickly become a massacre. Just the thought of facing so many Orks made his breath draw short and his heart pound so hard in his chest that it hurt and he thought it would burst from his chest.

His ears were strained to the limit listening for the sounds of clawed feet or heavy boots coming up the stairs or tramping along the floor towards where they were hiding. He silently cursed and wished that they had gone further up. Once the vehicles were filled with salvage they would hopefully return to wherever they had come from and they would be able to move on to the Ruins. However; he did not know how long it would take the aliens to fill their trucks and how many levels that they would have to cover to fill all their vehicles. Just then he heard the sound of footsteps reached his ears. It sounded like there were several of the creatures and they were heading in their direction, their movements punctuated by the sounds of doors opening and items being dragged out.

Theobald and the others were in a room about halfway down the hall and the Orks were drawing ever closer. Theobald looked at the others and by silent consent they all prepared their weapons and waited. Theobald was not sure how many of the aliens there were, but it did not really matter. Once shooting started the other Orks would all come running, the humans could try to run, but Theobald doubted that they would get very far and if the other humans tried to intervene they would die too.

The sounds drew closer and now the humans could hear the guttural voices of the Orks as they talked and laughed amongst themselves. They were now two doors down, three at most. The astropath was clutching the sides of his head and rocking slightly back and forth. One of the other men was hyperventilating and appeared to be on the verge of a panic attack and, if he was to be honest, Theobald felt like joining him. His blood seemed to be drawn deep within him and he felt cold all over, sweat trickled down his skin. He had not thought that his heart could beat any faster, but it quickly became obvious that he had been mistaken as his heart began to pound so hard the sound filled his ears and he had to lean forward so that he could breathe and lessen the pain somewhat. Time seemed to slow down as the sound of the Orks approaching grew louder, they would be on the humans any second, Theobald took a deep breath and raised the bolter towards the door.

Just then an Ork voice farther back yelled out a command and to his immeasurable relief Theobald heard the sounds of the aliens growing fainter as they made their way back the way that they had come. Slowly his heart and breathing returned to normal and the world returned to its normal speed. Around him the others were also slowly recovering, even the astropath slowly stopped his rocking and let go of his head. They waited several more minutes, listening for any sound of them coming back, they heard none and shortly they heard the sound of the engines of the Ork vehicles firing up and then the sounds of them driving away. Theobald crept to the window again and stared down onto the street. The creatures were all clambering back into their vehicles and driving off the way that they had come. He scanned the street as much as he was able, but he did not see any of them. Satisfied, he turned back to the astropath.

"Contact the others, tell them to meet us on the first floor of this building. Make sure they know to be cautious and keep an eye out just in case those things come back." The astropath nodded and lowered his head again, entering into telepathic communication with his fellows. Once he informed Theobald and the others that the message had been received by the others Theobald and the others made their way down to the bottom floor.

Soon the others began to appear from their hiding places and made their way towards where Theobald and the others were waiting for them. They looked the way that Theobald felt, but they were all there and none of them appeared to have been injured. Theobald had been considering resting and perhaps searching the area for food and other useful items, but the appearance of the Orks had changed his mind. He was now of the opinion that they needed to get to the Ruins as quickly as possible and the others all appeared to agree with him and they set off. Fortunately the Ruins were not far from where they had been forced to take refuge and they were able to make it there without further incident.

The Ruins loomed up in the darkness, some buildings partially collapsed and others decaying so that they looked like giant skeletons. Theobald had come here many times, but usually during daytime and he found that at night it was all unnerving, but it was the safest place in the city that he could think of and so he kept his uneasiness to himself and led the others in. They moved through the Ruins for the better part of an hour to his favorite place in the Ruins, a series of rooms in the middle of a partially collapsed hab block. If he had been traveling alone he would have been there in less than halve that time; however it was dark and he was with others, most of whom proved far less apt than he was. The worse were, of course, the astropaths. Often others would have to go first then have others lower the astropaths down to them. At long last; however, they reached their destination. They stumbled into what had, to judge from its size, been the living area of a supervisor or someone of similar rank and the majority of the party fell to the ground. From the floor Alonso turned to address Theobald.

"Please tell me we do not have to go any farther?" Feeling equally tired Theobald managed a tired smile.

"No, this place is safe from detection from an all but a determined search. I doubt that the Orks will conduct such a search so we can rest now."

"Thank the Emperor!" One of the astropthas wheezed out, his statement was met with laughter by many of those present. Still chuckling Theobald turned back towards Godwinne.

"We can rest first and then we need you to attempt to make contact…" He trailed off as it occurred to him that he did not actually know whom he was supposed to contact in order to send help.

"We can contact the proper authorities." He finished, hoping nobody had noticed his momentary slipup. Godwinne nodded, though Theobald thought that he noticed a smile which suggested he had noticed, but did not appear inclined to say anything. With that the group went to sleep, the majority simply sleeping where they fell.

Theobald awoke some time later and found that a few beams of sunlight had found their way through the numerous cracks and holes in the building around him. Now that he had time to think about it he really should have placed sentries before they slept, but they had all been so tired he had not even thought of it and even if he had they would likely have fallen asleep while on watch. Besides, they now had more pressing matters to deal with, specifically, the rumbling of his stomach. He was hungry and he was sure that the others felt the same way as well. They had brought all of the rations that they could from the warehouse and he had these distributed to the refugees, making sure that the astropaths ate first so that they could be as fit as possible to send the message as soon as possible. Theobald set Alonso, Roland and La'lek to determine a system of sentries and then went to Godwinne and the other astropaths, who had retired to an empty room a little bit away from where the others were.

They were sitting in a circle with Godwinne standing in the middle. The head astropath turned towards Theobald as he entered the room. Even without having any psychic talent he could sense the power moving in the room. It caused him to feel a tingling all over his body, a distinctly unpleasant feeling. Unpleasant or not, the message had to be sent and this was the only way. Taking a deep breath and offering prayer to the Emperor for protection he approached the circle. Godwinne seemed to sense Theobald's unease and smiled in a reassuring manner.

"Don't worry, it is all quite safe. We have sent dozens of messages and this one will be no different." Theobald, not knowing what else to do, nodded and moved forward at Godwinne's gesture Theobald stepped forward. Godwinne had placed his staff to the side and held up his hands for Theobald to take.

"Calm yourself and follow my instruction." Godwinne said.

"What do I need to do?" Theobald asked.

"Astro-telepathy is not like using a vox unit. You need to do more than speak the words, you need to picture what has happened in your mind so that can be sent as well."

"Who is the message being sent to?" Theobald asked.

"It is being sent to Dominus Fenoff, Lord General of this sub-sector. We have contacted him before at the orders of Governor Albinus and we were able to reestablish contact. However; we are not able to transmit as well outside of our choir chamber, so it would be best if the message was short." Theobald nodded and, at Godwinne's motioned command, took the astropath's hands in his own.

 _See what you desire Lord General Fenoff to see._ Godwinne's voice echoed in his mind.

Theobald complied. He imagined the Orks, he called up them swarming the defensive lines and storming through the palace. He drew up his memory of their salvage operations and the image of his mind of his greatest fear, that of a vicious green tide overwhelming the whole planet.

 _Speak your words._ Came the command.

"I am Theobald Traub of Wayfarer's Haven Planetary Defense Force. The planet has been invaded by Orks. The Planetary Defense Force has been defeated. Without aid the world will fall entirely. Aid is requested." He tried to think of any else to say but he could not think of anything.

"The Emperor protects." He said and felt the link with Godwinne break the link between them. He stumbled, temporarily disoriented and looked at the astropath.

"The message was sent?"

"It was sent."

"Will there be a reply?"

"I honestly cannot say. We will wait here and wait to see if there is a reply. If there is it may not come for some time."

"Alright, be careful. We should be safe here, but we thought that the whole planet was safe before it wasn't." With that he left and returned to the others. To his surprise he noted that the beams of light had shifted, as if some time had passed. He was not sure how that was possible as he had not been gone that long. As he entered the room La'lek and Fulton approached him.

"About time you got back," Fulton said; "We were starting to get worried." Theobald looked strangely at them.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were gone for more than an hour." La'lek replied. Theobald stared at them. He could have sworn that he had been with the astropaths for only a few minutes. Shaking his head he tried to focus on the matter at hand.

He moved to a clear area and, there not being much in the way of furniture, sat down on the floor. He was joined by La'lek, Fulton, Roland, Alonso as well as Forbin and the younger woman from the palace servants. They all looked at Theobald, clearly expecting him to speak first. Not sure what to say he decided to simply repeat what they already knew and hope that something came to him. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"We have reached the Ruins and are relatively safe from detection here. I have contacted Lord General Dominus Fenoff and advised him of the situation here and requested aid."

"When will help arrive?" Roland asked. Theobald wished that he knew, but decided that saying that he did not know would likely hurt moral. So instead he attempted to dodge the question.

"They will arrive when they can. However; they will likely not arrive as soon as we would like." He thought that last remark was rather clever as they all would doubtlessly like them to arrive before he finished speaking.

"Till then we will have to hold out on our own."

"That will not be possible." Said the young woman. At her words all eyes turned to her.

"What do you mean…?" Theobald broke realizing that, to his embarrassment he did not know what the woman's name was. She seemed to realize this and smiled shyly.

"Thresa. Thresa Chaplean."

"Very well Thresa. What do you mean that it is not possible to hold out here?"

"It's a question of supplies. I was an assistant to the Under-Keeper of the Larder and one of our duties was the supplying of the palace. But even if I hadn't done that the fact remains that we do not have enough food or water to last for any period of time. If we intend to hold out till help comes we will need to find more food." Alonso nodded.

"We also need more ammunition for our weapons. I know we want to avoid fighting the Orks if we can, but that may not be an option and if it were to happen now we would run out of ammunition pretty fast." Theobald felt a headache coming on. It seemed that there was just one problem after another, most of which seemed to have been left out of all the stories and movies.

He had not even thought that much about supplies, all of his thoughts had been getting to the Ruins and sending the message. He had not really thought about what would come next. He supposed that he had thought that help would come almost at once. Now it seemed that relief may not come as quickly as he believed and hoped that they would. That meant that they would have to see to their supplies and as the de facto leader it fell to him to figure out how to meet those needs. For a moment he wanted to just run away. He was a scribe for Throne's sake! He did not know anything about such things as supplies and strategies! But if he did run away then it would leave the people who had put their trust in him. He had already run once, he would not do so again. He refocused his attention on the people around him who were waiting for him to speak.

"Then we will need to find food. The most likely place would be the warehouses of Garced & Garced Agricultural." The others all looked at him and he elaborated, pleased to be speaking on a topic which he was knowledgeable of."

"Garced & Garced Agricultural are one of the biggest client Leiner & Leiner Brothers Shipping Company, where I worked before all of this happened. They own a good deal of the farmable land near the city and grow crops for export. They own a number of warehouses in the city, some of which are not too far from here. The harvest recently occurred, but the crops have not been shipped off world yet. There will be more than enough food there for us."

"Provided that the Orks have not stripped the place." Fulton said.

"Well, can you think of a better alternative?" Alonso asked. No one seemed to have one and so the planning for the raid began. They decided to wait till near sundown so that they would arrive at the warehouse after dark. Theobald was not sure if the Orks could see better in the dark than humans could, but even if they could the darkness had to help. Additionally, by waiting they could all get some more much needed rest prior to going out on the raid.

They set off an hour or so before sunset moving as quickly as they could. They were still slowed by moving through the ruined buildings, but they seemed to make slightly better time, though once again the astropaths were the slowest. There had been some debate about whether or not to bring them along, but eventually Theobald decided that leaving them alone too risky. Even when they left the Ruins their progress was still slower than it had been before, their speed reduced by the need to keep to alleyways and side streets in order to avoid the patrols of Orks and the smaller creatures which had increased since the last time they had been there. Also, while Theobald knew where the warehouses were, he had never actually been there and it took longer than he had expected so when they at last reached the warehouses it was well after dark when they finally drew near their destination. La'lek had crept ahead of the group in order to scout ahead. When they got within a block of the warehouses she rejoined them to report.

"The Orks are already there and are looting the warehouses." This brought a chores of groans and curses from the group. Some clearly looked as if they wanted to give up and go back to the Ruins. Before they could do anything Theobald spoke up, making sure that all the people could hear him.

"It does not matter. There is food in those warehouses and without it we will all starve." Seeing that he had their attention, but was also depressing them, he decided to change tactics.

"Besides, they will not be expecting us and we can take them by surprise. Till now we have run from the Orks or died at their hands. Tonight we stop running and repay these creatures in their own coin! Tonight we start fighting back!" Due to the need to keep quite the others did not cheer, but he could see in their eyes that they were with him, most of them at any rate and the others would be carried along by the majority.

In order to increase their chances of avoiding detection and taking the Orks by surprise they once again split into groups. La'lek led one group to scout the area more thoroughly, as this consisted of the ones whom it was thought could move the most stealthily this was the smallest group. The Ogryns were, of course all kept together led by Roland. The other groups were led by Fulton, Alonso and Theobald. In order to coordinate the groups Theobald instructed that each group was to have an astropath with them, some balked at this, but Theobald would not be denied and the others reluctantly went along. Due to the fact that they needed to move swiftly it was decided that Godwinne would go with La'lek's group as his artificial eyes meant that he did not need to have someone lead him by the hand. The arrangements made they moved out, with La'lek's group going first and the others following behind.

It was easy to recognize the warehouses, even at a distance. They were the only ones which had lights, coming mostly from the lights of vehicles or lamps and torches. The light illuminated numerous figures moving in and out of the buildings. To his surprise Theobald realized that in addition to the Orks and the smaller creatures there were also a number of humans, kept to their tasks by the whips of the smaller creatures. Theobald looked around, taking in the buildings surrounding the warehouses. He signaled Fulton and Alonso and pointed to one of the buildings.

"Take your people to the building across the street and await the signal." Fulton looked at him.

"What's the signal?"

"Trust me, you'll know." With that they moved on.

Theobald moved toward another building near the warehouses. The warehouses were located just on the edge of a residential area, the two being separated by a chain-link fence. He moved his men into the hab block closest to the warehouse. He left Roland and his Ogryns on the bottom floor, which had a much taller ceiling than any of the other floors, while he and his group moved to one of the upper floors, from there they would have a clear shot at the Orks outside of the warehouses and while he doubted that fence would stop the Orks, Theobald hoped that it would slow them down long enough for the humans to enact the plan which was forming in Theobald's mind. Once they were there he turned to the astropath in their group.

"Contact your fellows and see if they are in position." The man nodded and his head bowed as the other had done. After a period of silence he raised his head.

"Two are were you ordered them to be. The one which the Choir Master is with is still moving. Their leader believes that they can gain entry to the building and spy on the Orks." It was risky, but if Theobald was going to employ the plan which he had formed in his mind it was vital that he have at least a general idea of how many of the aliens there were. Also, as he thought about it, having her in the warehouse may actually prove to be beneficial. Still, minutes seemed to pass as slowly as hours and he found himself becoming more and more agitated and had to order himself several times to not pace or tap the windowsill and it from the look of it he was not the only one who felt that way. Just when it seemed that he could stand it no longer the astropath jerked and spoke.

"They are inside." In spite of the fact that they were on the verge of a battle in which many, if not all of them, could be killed Theobald found his tension easing at the prospect of things at last happing. He turned to face the astropath.

"Tell the others to wait for my orders. There will be shooting, but they are not to intervene before I give the signal." With that he signaled the others with him to move to the windows.

"When I start shooting open fire." He received their nods of acknowledgement and then targeted one of the Orks. He lined up on the creature's head and pulled the trigger. To his surprise the round struck not the head, but at the ground to the left of the creature. As soon he had fired the others opened up as well. They seemed to have no better luck than Theobald had had, though through sheer weight of firepower several Orks were hit, though only one or two went down and stayed down. The others rallied and opened fire. Like the humans many of the Ork's shots went wide, but one human fell back with a chunk of his head blown off.

"TAKE COVER!" Theobald yelled to the others, most of whom had already done so. After a moment the sound of the Ork war cry rose from the creatures and when Theobald cautiously raised his head enough to look out the window he saw that the Orks were swarming towards the building that they were sheltering in. He had expected this and he turned towards the astropath, who had spent the entire engagement cowering in the corner.

"Contact the others! Tell Roland to hold them as they try to enter the building! Have the others attack the Orks from the rear! NOW!" This last was delivered in a roar at the top of his lungs as the astropath had appeared frozen from all that was going on. The man was clearly terrified by the noise and the oncoming Orks, but he appeared to have been shaken out of it by Theobald yelling at him, at least enough to carry out his order.

Theobald returned to the window and continued to fire. To his increasing frustration he kept missing his intended target, fortunately the Orks were clustered tightly together and so even if he didn't hit the Ork he was aiming at he'd hit another. The Orks were almost to the hab block when Roland and the Ogryns attacked.

With a roar which rivaled that of the Orks the brutish abhumans burst forth and slammed into the Orks. The aliens outnumbered them, but the attack had taken the Orks by surprise. The Ogryns were also apparently as strong as the Orks. As he watched Hob brought his stolen blade down in a vicious chop which split an Ork's skull in two. For a moment the battle hung in the balance for a time, then there was another change. A flurry of shots heralded the arrival of Alonso and Fulton and their groups. Seeing that they were being attacked from both front and back the Orks broke and fled. The humans fired after them, but made no effort to pursue them. A cheer went up as the Orks disappeared from sight.

Theobald and the others moved down to join the others, pausing only long enough to strip the dead man of his weapon and anything else that might be of value. Theobald wished that they could take the body with them but that was not really an option. Once back on the street they joined the others. One of the Ogryns had died, his head ripped off by an Ork's mechanical claws. Many of the others had been shot or slashed as well, but they did not seem to notice. Just then Theobald noticed something.

"Where is La'lek and her group?" The others looked around, but no one had seen her. Just then the sounds of a large group approaching. They all turned, weapons coming up and found that it was the humans that had been working for the Orks, accompanied by La'lek and her group. A number of the humans had taken up the weapons of the Orks and the smaller creatures who had apparently remained in the warehouse with their slaves and as the two groups came together more of them gathered up weapons from the Orks Theobald and the others had killed. As they did so La'lek came up to Theobald.

"Once most of the Orks left we killed the few who remained and the smaller creatures with them." Fulton, who was standing nearby, chimed in.

"It seems that we have a regular army now." Indeed, there appeared to be several hundred people, all staring at Theobald, both in gratitude and waiting for him to issue orders. Once again Theobald felt himself being overwhelmed by this turn of events, but he mastered himself. The numbers had grown, but the objective remained the same, in fact, its importance had grown. He addressed the crowd, hoping that his vice wouldn't crack.

"Everyone! We need the supplies in those warehouses and we need to be gone before the Orks come back!" He looked around until he found Roland.

"Roland, get these people into groups and have them gather everything that they can carry!

"Thresa! Food and any ammunition that they find have priority!

"La'lek! Take some people and post guards to watch for the Orks!

"Alonso! You and Fulton guard the flanks! JUMP TO IT!" This last was addressed to everyone and they did indeed jump and while it seemed to take forever, but at last the supplies were gathered and they set off.

The going was even slower, there now being several hundred people of varying ages and degrees of health and it was well after sunrise by the time they returned to their hiding place. The increased numbers meant that they were far more spread out and Theobald had to repeatedly warn people about wandering around for fear of them injuring themselves in the various falls and weak spots in floor. He was on his way to speak with Thresa about their supply situation when Godwinne caught up with him. The presence of the astropaths had unnerved many of the newly freed slaves and they had withdrawn a little as soon as they returned.

"I have news. Our message was received and we have a reply."

"That was fast." Theobald commented. Godwinne nodded in agreement.

"Usually it could take far longer. However; there is a Navy vessel on the edge of the system observing the Orks and their own astropathic choir received the message and passed it along, as they did with the reply."

"And what is the reply?"

"We have not been forgotten by the Imperium. Even as we speak the call has gone out to raise an army to reclaim this world from the alien. We ordered to hold and continue to harass the enemy until relief arrives Colonel."

"Colonel?" Theobald asked confused.

"Yes, the orders included a message from Governor Clodius Albinus. He has promoted you to the rank of colonel and, as you are the highest-ranking officer in the Planetary Defense Force that he could contact he has placed you in command of the resistance movement. Congratulations."

 **Author's Notes: Well, what did you think? Sorry that it took so long, the chapter did not want to get written. One of the comments I got said humans cannot use Ork equipment, but in Cain series they can use some, so I am going with that. I was trying to show that they are not automatically expert soldiers, for example Theobald not knowing what bullets do not travel in a straight trajectory. Let me know what you think. Please pray for three missing people from a plane crash and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad that you liked the last one and I hope that you like this one as well, as always I own nothing.**

Theobald made his way from the astropaths and towards the area were the original members of his group were. His progress was slowed considerably by the new arrivals, many of whom tried to crowd in to shake his hand or embrace him. To his mixed pleasure and embarrassment many of women also kissed, or tried, to kiss him. At last he got to his destination, where it seemed that Hob and the other Ogryns were intimidating enough to keep the majority of the people at a distance. At last Theobald was able to hear himself think and talk with the core members of his group: Alonso, La'lek, Roland, Fulton, Forbin and Thresa. As he joined them the crowd behind them parted and Godwinne also joined them. As Theobald and Godwinne sat down Roland smiled at Theobald.

"I hear that congratulations are in order Colonel." Theobald looked at him.

"How did you know? I just found out." Beside him Godwinne smiled.

"I think that you will find Colonel that the only thing in the galaxy that is faster than light is gossip. I should be surprised if the whole gathering here does not already know, or will know soon enough." Thresa chose that moment to interject.

"Speaking of the new arrivals. I fear that I have bad news." Theobald turned to look at her, already feeling his buoyant mood at his unexpected promotion beginning to ebb.

"What is that?" He asked.

"While I do not have an accurate count on how many new people have joined us, but I can accurately say that there are far more than our newly acquired supplies can sustain for a lengthy period of time. Of even greater concern is the water situation, we acquired some during the raid, but the amount is less than the food we acquired. Even if we impose rationing, something which I recommend, it will not last." Theobald turned to Godwinne.

"Do you have any idea when reinforcements will arrive?" The chief astropath shook his head.

"Unfortunately I do not. The message said simply that aid was coming, not how long that it would be." There followed a brief silence. Despite his new rank Theobald did not know any more about how long it would take to assemble an army than any of the others did, but from the look on Thresa's face unless they showed up in the next day or two they would not have enough supplies to last. Theobald sighed and turned to look fully at Thresa.

"Get a complete inventory of our supplies." He then looked at Fulton.

"Fulton, I want you to try to get at least a semi-accurate count of how many people we have now and then get with Thresa and help her work on rationing." La'lek interjected.

"We also need to do something about our defenses. It seems like we will have to attack the Orks again and it will only be a matter of time before the Orks trace us back to the Ruins. When that happens we will have to defend ourselves." Roland looked skeptical at this.

"Meaning no disrespect, but is that wise?

"While I agree that it is likely that the Orks will eventually search for us here; can we realistically hope to create fortifications which can repel them? I wasn't there, but it sounds as if they tore through the defenses at the palace with very little difficulty and those were much more extensive than anything that we could hope to make here and they were manned by professional soldiers, not civilians like we have here." Theobald remembered being in the trench with his fellow conscripts and was not sure the agreed with Roland about the professional soldiers part, though he agreed that the defenses had been much more formidable than anything that they were likely to be able to construct here in the Ruins and those had proven ineffective. Alonso chose that moment to join the conversation.

"Whether they are effective defensive or not, fortifying and improving this area serves other useful purposes.

"First, giving them something to do will make them feel better, at least it will for me. Also, having some defenses will give them a sense of safety, even if it is only illusionary. Finally, even if we cannot make this place defensible, we can make this place a bit safer." He spread his hands to encompass the entire area.

"Look around, we have enough troubles without having people falling down holes."

"Especially as we have neither medical supplies nor medically trained personal." Thresa stated glumly.

"Which is not good, as we have a number of wounded and sick." Alonso stated glumly. Theobald sighed.

"Are you telling me that none of these people are medically trained?" He asked. Thresa looked at him in a slightly apologetic manner.

"Well, I have not spoken to every new person in her group, but from what I have seen so far the majority of them are factory and farm laborers."

"Of course they are," La'lek grumbled.

"I bet that there is not a single Defense trooper or enforcer among them. Throne! Right now I would be happy to have some gangers!" Theobald remembered something that Preacher Pilzer had said in one of his sermons.

"The Emperor provides us with what we need, not with what we want." He had tried to sound inspirational, or at least encouraging, but from the looks of the others it had failed to have the desired effect. He shrugged and smiled ruefully.

"It sounded better when the preacher said it." Roland reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Take my advice, leave the preaching to the clergy." Theobald nodded again. Forbin chose that moment to interject himself into the conversation.

"Well, preaching or not, we are going to have to conduct more raids if we are going to keep these people and ourselves fed." There were some sighs and groans, but no disagreements. Theobald tried to think of any other warehouses where food might be stored. Unfortunately, the majority of the crops slotted for shipment had already done so or were being handled by other shipping companies. From the looks on the faces of the others they had suffered a similar lack of success as well. Indeed, there was only one place that was sure to have food and Theobald was the one to give voice to it.

"We shall have to steal it directly from the Orks." The others did not look happy, but none said anything to oppose him. La'lek sighed and looked directly at him.

"Give me a few hours of rest and I'll go out scout out the nearest Ork encampment and see what there is in the way of defenses. Hopefully their defenses are not fully in place yet."

"Surly you will not be going alone?" Fulton said. La'lek shook her head.

"I'll take some of the people who went with me on the last mission who impressed me with their abilities." Theobald nodded.

"Take one of the astropaths with you as well. I think that Godwinne would be the best choice as he can see and it would be the best for sneaking around." The astropath in question looked far from thrilled, but said nothing in protest. There did not appear to be anything more to be said and the meeting broke up. Now there was another, less pleasant matter, to be dealt with, the ceremony for the dead.

Despite the success of the raid several members had died and had to be left behind and several more had been critical wounded and had died once the returned to the Ruins and these had now to be dealt with. First the bodies were stripped, this was unpleasant and Theobald was extremely uncomfortable with what they were doing, but the fact was that they needed what little the bodies had, primarily clothing.

Once this was done the bodies were taken to one of the deep chasms near where they were dwelling. Once there the bodies were thrown down it. The survivors had no choice, they could not bury them any other way and to keep the bodies risked illness among the survivors. As there was no priest among them Theobald, as the leader of the group, mumbled a few quick prayers and that was that, the group broke up and they all headed back. Theobald felt bad over what he considered his inadequate performance. He was the leader, it was his job to lead and inspire the people under his command and it was clear that he was not fulfilling that duty. He wandered out into an isolated area in an effort to get some privacy when a sound intruded into his thoughts. Looking around he saw La'lek kneeling before a fire and chanting in a language that he did not recognize. As she approached she must have heard him as she stopped chanting and rose to face him. She had discarded her dress for trousers, boots and a heavy shirt. Theobald had likewise donned trousers and boots and had cut his robe to just above the knees, both to provide bandages and to keep it from tripping him up when he had to move quickly.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Saying the prayers for the dead in the manner of the Promethean Cult."

"The Promethean Cult. What is that?" Theobald asked, feeling uneasy. Preacher Pilzer had always said that worship of anything other than the Emperor was heresy. Something of what he felt must have been visible as La'lek gave an exasperated sigh.

"Relax, oh fearless leader, the Promethean Cult is a variation of the Imperial Cult officially recognized by the Ecclesiarchy as a non-heretical faith practiced on my home of Nocturne." Theobald relaxed, now that he thought about it he had learned through dealing with traders from a number of other worlds that the Emperor was worshiped in a variety of different ways, though he had never actually seen it in practice. La'lek continued speaking.

"I admit, I have not practiced it for some time, but given the circumstances it seemed appropriate." Theobald nodded.

"Faith can be a great comfort in times of trial."

"It's more than that. The Promethean Cult emphasizes self-reliance, loyalty, duty, patience, awareness, self-sacrifice and, above all, self-discipline and endurance. We are to emulate the deeds and be true to the teachings of the Primarch Vulkan as well as providing service to and worship of his divine father, the Emperor of Mankind." As both of the blessed names were spoken Theobald made the sign of the Aquila. As he watched she placed her right hand near the flame.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"We are taught that we must be cleansed by pain before any major undertaking. Those blessed with being initiated into the Salamanders Chapter of Space Marines will actually burn their flesh, but unfortunately I lack their ability to heal that they have and so I just hold my hand close enough to the flame to cause pain, but not close enough to burn." Theobald nodded as he started to move away.

"Well, I will leave you to it." With that he started back towards where the rest of the people were gathered. Not long afterwards La'lek rejoined them and after the requested rest period gathered up the members of her group and set off.

With them gone Theobald found that he had very little to do. He went to find Fulton and Thresa. Fulton had completed his count and reported that there were around eight hundred people. Fortunately, the majority of them were workers and thus old enough to be useful. Unfortunately, he then talked to Thresa and she informed him that they did not have enough food to last a week and to add to their difficulties there were a number of individuals who had been injured or had become ill during their captivity and were in desperate need of medical aid, which they had no recourses to give. In short, ironic as it sounded, they had a greater chance of survival taking on the Orks than by avoiding them. So it was with a growing sense of trepidation that he awaited his arrival. He tried to pass the time by finding Roland and checking on the progress of the defenses Theobald had instructed him and the Ogryns to construct. From what he could see they were working more with enthusiasm than skill and while they were doing an effective job of covering up potentially dangerous holes, the defenses that they were constructing confirmed Theobald and the others' belief that their best defense would be for the Orks to never find them.

That got Theobald thinking. While small in comparison to the world's population their group was still large enough to draw the attention of the Orks, especially as it seemed that they would be forced to continually raid the Orks for supplies. Even if Orks were as stupid as they had always been told and given how they had also been told that Orks were weak he was not sure he could count on them being stupid either, they might be able to find this place even if the human took precautions to cover their tracks. No, it might better for him to come up with an alternative. An idea began to form in his mind, but he would need to discuss it with the other members of his ad hock command staff and that would not likely be possible until after the coming battle, assuming that they all survived.

Time seemed to pass slowly while Theobald and the others all waited for La'lek and the others with her. The more time passed the more his imagination developed scenarios which became increasingly dire as time went on. The result of which was that by the time they actually returned he was nearing a state of barely repressed panic. A state which threatened to overwhelm him and by the time La'lek and those with her finally returned he was on the verge of losing it and he found that he had to control himself in order to avoid snapping at her.

"What did you find?" He asked her as the others gathered around her. Not having any maps La'lek squatted down and drew with her finger in the dirt.

"The nearest concentration of Orks is in the scrumball stadium. They've pretty much torn down the walls of the stadium and set up a camp and some sort of workshop manned by both Greenskins and human slaves. More importantly for our interests they have food stores there, as well as weapons and ammunition."

"What are the defenses?" Alonso asked. La'lek, who had drawn the outline of the scrumball stadium on the ground, made several indentation around it with her finger.

"They have towers at these points. Their mostly manned by the smaller creatures with what looked like heavy stubbers and searchlights. There is also barbwire connecting the towers and some patrols, but from the look of it their there more to keep the slaves from escaping than to guard against an attack from the outside. It also appears that they are expanding those defenses."

"How many Orks did you see?" Fulton asked. La'lek gave him an annoyed look.

"We didn't have time for an exact headcount, but we got a rough estimate. It looked as though there was between a hundred and a hundred and fifty Orks and a number of the smaller creatures, at least three times as many of them as there are of the Orks.

"Additionally, some of the Orks are on some sort of vehicles. We watched them coming in and out of a cluster of buildings." Most of those present groaned and Theobald felt like joining them.

This would be a far more difficult battle than the last one had been. For one thing the enemy was roughly their equal in numbers and where far superior to them in fighting abilities. Second, in this case the enemy had fixed defenses and heavy weapons, which meant that there would likely be much heavier casualties. Finally, since the enemy had vehicles they would be able to chase Theobald and the others, possibly even cutting them off entirely from the Ruins. In the face of all the potential risks Theobald found himself considering abandoning the entire plan, but he could not realistically do that. They were running low on supplies and if they did not go they would die anyway from hunger rather than Ork bullets. From the looks on the faces of Alonso, Fulton, Godwinne and La'lek they shared his opinion of the situation and they, like him, could not think of any alternative and they and everyone else looked to him, clearly waiting for him to tell them what the plan was to be.

For a moment all that he could do was stare back at them, his mind blank. He did not have a clue what he was supposed to do. He was a colonel, but in name only. He had no idea about strategy apart from the books and truthfully they had almost been more scriptural than factual, praising the holy primarch and his angelic warriors. Now he was the one having to come up with a plan and he was not leading Space Marines, he was leading regular men and woman who would die all too easily when the fighting began, but he had no choice.

Those same people would die if he did nothing and so he had to do something. He may not be the best leader, but he was all that they had. Preacher Pilzer had once said that men were capable of doing far more that than they thought when they were forced to do so and it seemed that he was being forced to do so. He needed to act and he had no time for self-doubt. The books may have lacked details, but they did provide information and if he focused, that might be enough. It would have to be enough.

As he recalled Corax and the Raven Guard would often attack from multiple angles, a fact which had inspired his own last attack. It had worked then and it could work again. As he thought about it a plan began to form in his mind. It would be dangerous, but what course of action wasn't? He remembered reading that a leader had to appear confident, even if they were not, in order to inspire those he led and so he looked at those around him and tried to draw himself up as straight as he could and put a determined look on his face.

"Right, we all know that we have no choice. We need the supplies there so we have to attack. Taking them on head-on would be suicide and so we are not going to do that. Instead we will repeat the tactics we used before on a larger scale. He looked at them and pointed at Alonso, La'lek, Roland, Fulton, Forbin and Thresa.

"Congratulations to you all are due as well." At their confused looks he smiled.

"As the senior ranking officer of the Planetary Defense Force I am granting all of you brevet promotions to captain. The people you led in the last battle are you companies." He turned his gaze to Fulton.

"Captain, you took the count of people earlier, so you must have gotten a look at them. I want you and the others to divide them up between the various companies. We'll keep the astropaths were they are and continue to employ them the way we did on the last raid." He then looked at Thresa.

"You are our new supply officer. Some of those people are unfit for combat for one reason or another. Get them organized and start sorting out our supplies and determining sleeping arrangements and maybe some sanitation setups as well." She looked like she was feeling slightly overwhelmed, but merely nodded in agreement. Theobald turned to Roland.

"Captain, I think that it would be for the best if you only kept the people that you already have for now. The new people are not used to the Ogryns and things might go smoother if the only people who are around them right now are those who are used to them." Roland merely nodded. Theobald then turned to focus on La'lek.

"Once your group has had a chance to eat and rest we'll head out. You'll take the lead, scout out any patrols or ambushes and have your astropath send back any warnings if you have to." She nodded and went off to join the rest of her team.

"You know," Alonso cut in; "Most of these people do not have weapons of any kind. What, pray tell, are they going to do when the fighting starts? Use harsh language?" While some of them chuckled, it was subdued and uneasy. For a moment Theobald considered leaving them behind and then decided against it. They would be needed if they were to move the supplies that they hoped to find in any quantity.

"We'll need them. Have them arm themselves with whatever they can find, there's plenty of scrap metal around if nothing else. They can gather up firearms when they become available." It went without saying that there would be weapons on the ground once the shooting started and all they could do was hope that those weapons would be from Orks, not humans. The others all went about to gather their new members and get ready to move out, leaving Theobald alone with his thoughts.

Now that he had a few moments to think all the things that could go wrong came to his mind. With an effort he forced these thoughts away, the plans had been made and there was nothing to be but carry them out. No, that was not entirely correct. There was other thing that he could do. He got on his knees, made the sign of the Aquila and began to pray.

"Almighty Emperor, master and protector of mankind, look down on your servants. We go into battle against the xenos in your name. Guide our weapons and shield us in your holy light." He was about to get up and then paused and continued.

"Corax, lord of the Ravens, guide us. Command the shadows to conceal us as they concealed you. May your spirit help free this world as you did so long ago." He rose and made his way to join the others. As he walked through the area he saw that people had already begun to set up shelters and make them as comfortable as possible, including the lighting of several fires. He was walking by one when he remembered what La'lek had said and done. He went up to one of the fires. It was little more than embers and so he had to almost touch them to feel pain. Once he felt some discomfort from the heat he said one last prayer.

"Vulcan, Lord of the Salamanders, grant us your strength, both of body and of spirit that we may smite the foes of the Imperium." With that he rose and went to rejoin the others. He had tried to pray the way Cardinal Kant, who sounded far more impressive than Preacher Pilzer did in his broadcasted sermons, did. He hoped it was pleasing to the Emperor and the Primarchs and that they would intervene and aid them in what was to come, Emperor knew that they needed all the help that they could get.

He found the group that he had led, now augmented by the addition of some of the new people. He saw that many of them were keeping their distance from the astropath, which was to be expected. Lacking any other weapons many of them carried pieces of metal, ranging from piping to crudely shaped knives. He did not have time to do anything but signal for them to move out. He would have preferred to wait before launching the attack, but if the defenses were being expanded then it would be best if they attacked sooner rather than later. The sun was getting ready to set as they set out. However; by the time they actually reached where they were going it would be close to dawn, especially as they were being forced to move slowly. While all that he had read talked about such attacks as the one they were planning usually occurred at night, but he did not think that that course of action would be a wise idea.

The battles that he read about were all conducted by forces trained for such things and not just any forces, they were Adeptus Astartes, angels of death whose whole existence was dedicated to war. The people Theobald was leading were a different matter altogether. They were not Adeptus Astartes, they were not even Guard or PDF. They were civilians without training or even weapons in most cases. There was no way that they would be able to carry out a raid of such complexity, with all the different groups moving through an unfamiliar part of the city and then launch attacks from multiple directions successfully. At least in daylight there was less chance of the different groups attacking each other by mistake.

The movement was without incident, it seemed that the Orks had stripped the area and abandoned it. As they drew close to the area they began to see signs of the aliens, such as crude pictures painted on walls and equally crude signs erected seemingly at random places along the way. As they moved on they began to hear the sounds of the Orks, yells gunshots which the humans at first thought meant that they had been seen, but it appeared that Orks were merely shooting for the fun of it. There was also the roar of engines of being run at full power. Theobald turned to the astropath.

"Instruct the others to signal when they are in position." La'lek had given them a general description of the area and from there Theobald had come up with the plan.

They would take up positions in abandoned buildings near the various towers. Once the signal was given all of those which had weapons would open up on the towers. Since none of them were very good shots they were hoping that by combing all their firepower they would neutralize the towers. Once that was done they would all stop firing except for La'lek's group. They would continue to fire at the Orks in order to get them to chase them. They would attempt to draw off as many of the aliens as possible, particularly those in vehicles. Once they were sure that the Orks were giving chase they would flee into the city. Once they had drawn the Orks some distance off they would attempt to lose them and return to the Ruins. Once they were gone Theobald and the others would move in, kill any of the Greenskins who were left behind and then grab all the supplies that they could carry.

Theobald led his group to the fifth floor of a building so heavily damaged that it was impossible to tell what its function had been. From a hole in the wall they had a clear view of the nearest tower. In the books and holo-films the people always had rocket launchers or similar weapons; the heaviest weapon Theobald and the others had was his bolter. Fortunately the tower that they were going to attack did not appear to have been sturdily constructed and its weapons were pointed away from where the humans were positioned. Theobald hoped that they would be able take the tower out before it could be brought to bear. He turned to address the astropath.

"Are the others in position?" The astropath shook his head.

"I have heard from some, but not all. They must be still looking for positions to launch their attacks from."

"What of La'lek?"

"She is ready, her people all set to flee once the Orks begin to pursue."

"Good. Let me know when everyone is in position." After that there was nothing to do but wait. Fortunately, they did not have to wait long. The astropath signaled with his hand to Theobald.

"They are ready." Theobald nodded.

"Tell them to open fire as soon as I do." Without waiting for a reply he moved to the hole and raised the bolter.

Remembering the last time he had fired the weapon he aimed slightly to the side of his target, one of the smaller creatures. He took a deep breath, let it out and pulled the trigger. With a loud roar the projectile was launched from the weapon with a force which slammed the weapon against his shoulder. Though his aim was better, it was still off and missed his target. Though he failed to hit what he was aiming at, his shot still had an effect. The shot sailed past the creature and hit the stubber and detonated with a blast which blew a chunk of the weapon, rendering it inoperable.

The sound of other weapons soon filled the air as the others also opened fire. Several of the other towers were shredded, their occupants killed or their weapons destroyed. Some; however, remained and they began to return fire. It soon became apparent that while the gunners were highly enthusiastic, they lacked skill. The overwhelming majority of the shots failed to hit anything but the sides of the buildings. Even at a distance; however, Theobald could hear the screams of men and women as some the shots found their targets.

Below the towers Orks were piling out of buildings by the dozens. Some ran to mount a variety of bikes and other vehicles. Others started to run towards the sounds of gunfire, waving weapons and bellowing into the air. Theobald turned towards the astropath, who had crouched down in a corner as far from the shooting as possible. It was time for La'lek to make her move, it they delayed any longer the Orks would go after all the groups and they would all find themselves in combat with the creatures.

"Astropath! Give La'lek and the others the signal!" The astropath nodded and Theobald turned back to the hole to watch.

As they received the signal all the groups, except for La'lek's dropped off. Her group not only continued to fire, but also moved out into the open. With the lessening of fire from the other groups and with one clearly in view the Orks all started running towards the only visible targets. Some of the larger creatures appeared to be attempting to impose some order, but none of the smaller Orks seemed interested in listening and continued on their way. As soon as the Orks drew close La'lek and those with her began to fall back down the street the way they had come, the Orks in pursuit. As they had hoped it seemed that the majority of the creatures had followed. Theobald hoped that they all had, but he was not sure of that. He waited several minutes till the sound of the Orks died down and then turned back to the astropath.

"Signal the others to move in." With that he and the others with him made their way down the street below, followed shortly by the astropath.

As they exited the building he saw the other groups also emerging from where they had taken refuge. Theobald noted that a number of them had received wounds and around twenty people were missing, Theobald presumed that they were dead. They all began move towards the buildings, Roland and his Ogryns leading the way. As they entered the compound they came under fire. From doors and alleyways the smaller creatures and a few Orks swarmed out to attack the humans. Even as he and the others dived for cover he saw that these Orks were different from the others. They wielded devices which were both tools and weapons. Also, most of them also sported large and crude bionics.

Having been caught in the open more humans fell, some screaming while others merely lay still on the ground. The rest attempted to find shelter and those with weapons returned fire. The smaller creatures seemed to emboldened by the human loses and the fact that many humans lacked firearms as with a gleeful cry they rushed towards the humans, firing crude pistols and waving blades. The Orks, again unlike their brethren, hung back somewhat, content to advance behind the smaller creatures firing their weapons. These were larger and more powerful than those the smaller creatures carried, but they did not appear to be any more accurate than the other Orks.

The smaller creatures reached the humans and attacked them: shooting, stabbing and biting with needle-like teeth. The humans' responses' varied, with some falling to the ground and trying to cover themselves while those with weapons tried to defend themselves. Those who lacked any other weapon pulled out their crude knives and began wildly stabbing and slashing at the creatures. These improvised weapons proved to be surprisingly successful and the creatures began to break off and fall back. However; the Orks coming up behind cursed and beat them till they turned and attacked once again.

Several of them rushed Theobald as well. He rapidly fired off two shots. The first missed, but the second took one of the creatures in the chest, nearly tearing the thing in half. Theobald did not have time to aim at the second one and instead wildly swung the bolter at it, striking its skull with a resounding crack. It fell to the ground and did not move again. Seeing that there was not enough space to use the bolter he slung the bolter over his shoulder by a crude sling that had been attached to it and drew the chainsword. It took him several tries to figure out how to activate the weapon, but at last he figured it out. The teeth began to spin with an angry buzzing sound and the weapon began to shake and vibrate in his hand and he had to use both hands to hold it. Just then a cry which was half-roar and half-scream was heard.

One of the Ogryns had attacked one of the Orks. He had picked the creature off the ground and was attempting to strangle it. The Ogryn had; however, failed to see the Ork's bionic, which was a large drill. It activated the drill and drove it into the Ogryn's side. As the Ogryn cried out and reflexively tightened his grip on the Ork. The creature's neck broke but it had already inflicted a fatal wound and the two fell to the ground, both dead. The sight of it seemed to drive home how much suffering and death that they were enduring and this, combined with the feeling that it was all his fault, caused something inside Theobald to snap. With a scream of rage and hate he raised the chainsword above his head and charged.

The first blow missed and he nearly lost his balance and fell, but managed to retain his footing. His next blow connected and the angry buzz turned into something more akin to a scream as it tore into alien flesh. The sight of this caused the other creatures to fall back in fear, which in turn emboldened him and encouraged the humans who saw it. With a roar he charged towards the nearest of the Orks and swung his sword at its middle. Before it could make contact the Ork brought up its left arm, which had a large claw in place of a hand and batted the sword away. Theobald tried to strike again, the Ork blocked with its claw again and drove its right fist into Theobald's stomach. Air rushed out of his lungs and he felt bile rise up. He fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and trying to draw in air. Before the Ork could capitalize on its success it screamed and grabbed at its head. Blood flowed from its eyes and ears and it fell to the ground dead.

Theobald turned around and saw the astropath, who had fallen behind the others in the advance. The sight of the Ork's grizzly death seemed to unnerve the other Orks. Getting to his feet Theobald pointed his sword at the Orks.

"CHARGE!" He yelled as loud as he could. With a yell the humans charged forward. This proved too much for the remaining Orks and their servants. They broke and fled. Some were cut down by the pursuing humans, but the rest soon outdistanced them and vanished down the streets into the city. Theobald turned his sword off and fought the urge to sink to his knees in exhaustion once the battle fury wore off. Looking around he saw that many of those around him seemed to feel the same way. However tired they were, they did not have time for rest. The Orks who were chasing La'lek could return at any time, as could the ones they had just chased off. Forcing himself to move he grabbed the man nearest too him.

"Get up there." He said, pointing to one of the watchtowers which was still mostly intact.

"Take a few others and one of the astropaths. Keep a sharp lookout and warn us if any of the Orks comes back. With that he joined the others as they made their way towards the buildings. They were wary now, looking out for another ambush, but it seemed that the Orks had put everything into their first attack and no more were seen.

Theobald set some to see to the wounded while he set the rest to searching the buildings. The first building he came to was a warehouse which looked to be little more than a large shed from which a stench rose. When the Ogryns broke the chain on the double doors and pulled them open the stench hit them like blast of miasma. Inside they found a large number of humans, many of whom bore scars from Ork whips. At first they looked up in dull misery, but once they saw armed humans they rushed forward as best they could. To his embarrassment several embraced Theobald and one even kissed him. With an effort he freed himself and raised his voice in an effort to be heard by everyone.

"Attention! I am Colonel Theobald Traub! We have little time! The Orks are gone, but they will return! We must gather what supplies we can and be gone from here! We will need your help! Come on!" This last was said as he stepped to the side and motioned for those who within to come out. They seemed to hesitate for a moment, then they began to move out of the building. As they did so Theobald turned to Alonso, who had come up beside him.

"Get these people organized and search these buildings, you know what has priority." He was about to move on when a voice spoke up behind him.

"Pardon me Colonel. I believe that I might be of assistance." Theobald turned around and found himself looking at one of the prisoners.

He was of medium height and build, but neither of these were what drew Theobald's attention, what drew his attention were the red robes, the metal plates which covered him like a second skin and hanging from a chain around his neck was a cog wheel. The man was clearly a devotee of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Theobald's job had not caused him to deal with the members of the Machine Cult and the few times he had he had always found them strange and slightly unnerving. Not wanting to let this show he looked the man full in his face, which thankfully was still mostly flesh.

"And you are?"

"Fortius Varus, enginseer assigned to the maintenance of the shuttles used by Xavier Transport Company." Theobald nodded, his company having had dealings with them in the past.

"And how can you be of help?"

"Though it was not my role I observed where all the items were placed." He looked as if he might have gone on, but Theobald held up a hand to stop.

"Exhalent," he indicated Alonso; "Get with the captain here. He knows what are priorities are. Help him gather what we need and see to transporting them." With that he went to check on the wounded.

These had been gathered up mostly in one place, their screams and moans tearing at him worse than the cries of the Orks had. The efforts to tend to them were being overseen by one of the first group of slaves that had been liberated. He was a slightly older man, short with lose skin as if he had lost a significant amount of wait in a short time. As Theobald approached the man turned to look at him, rose and offed a sloppy salute.

"Colonel." The man said, his accent indicating that he was not from the city proper, but rather from one of the small farming communities that dotted the rest of the world. Theobald returned the salute in a manner only slightly less sloppy.

"Are you in charge here? I fear that I do not know your name."

"Name's Harland, just Harland and to answer your question I suppose I am Sir."

"Are you a physician Harland?" The man responded by giving chuckle.

"Oh Emperor no Sir! I was my village butcher. I guess I got this job cause I know about cuts and I don't mind the sight of blood." For a moment words failed Theobald, but he rallied himself and focused on the matter at hand.

"How are they doing?" At the question Harland's expression lost its humor."

"Not good Sir. I don't have any medical training, I am much better at making cuts than closing them up and even if it I was, I don't have any medical supplies.

"As for the wounded themselves. A few will be alright, I think, but most will not. Those Orks have some nasty weapons." He waved his hand to encompass the wounded lying around them.

"Most of them are going to die and their going to do so in great pain." He paused, clearly not wanting to say what he felt needed to be said.

"It might be a mercy to help them along Sir, if you take my meaning Sir." Theobald did and the thought made him feel sick to his stomach. Still, he could see the cold logic behind it. Guilt tore at him, but he nodded.

"See to it." He said and then turned and hurried from the area as quickly as he could. Desperate to distract himself he hurried back to the warehouses to see how the gathering of supplies was going.

Under the supervision of Alonso and Varus the resistance fighters and the newly-free slaves were busily engaged in hauling supplies from the various buildings. They then divided them into various piles: food, weapons and so on. As they came in they were gathered up by waiting people who gathered into groups and set off for the Ruins. While there had been some debate about the wisdom of sending off the people in groups as opposed to all going together. It had finally been decided that by sending groups it not only sped up the sending of supplies, but also increased the chance that some would get through.

The Ogryns, of course, were carrying the heaviest loads. Someone had rigged up crude but functional packs which they placed on the Ogryns' backs. These allowed them to carry heavy loads on their backs and more in their arms. Theobald was worried that if too many people were weighed down with supplies then they would not be able to defend themselves quickly enough if they were attacked. However; despite the risk, they really did not have a choice if they were to collect sufficient supplies, especially with the influx of the newly liberated slaves.

Despite the uneasiness the situation was causing him he felt the sickness and guilt of what he had ordered Harland to do as he was able to lose himself in the need to help organize groups and the worrying about the return of the Orks. Despite the fear of the Orks returning they did not appear as the procedure continued. As the last of the supplies which were could be taken were being loaded up Harland came up and joined them. Though it wasn't the man's fault Theobald could not help but feel guilt at the sight of him. So he was relieved when Varus came up to him.

"Colonel. If I might make a suggestion?"

"What is it?" He asked the enginseer.

"In Warehouse Three there is a large amount of promethium, much of which we cannot take with us.

"Give me a little time and some assistance and I believe that I can use it to set fire to both the warehouses and the vehicle repair yard."

"Do it." Theobald said without any hesitation at all. The enginseer's suggestion had inadvertently provided a means of dealing with his guilt.

What he had had to order done was all the Ork's fault. If they had not come to his world none of this would have happened. He felt his hatred for the creatures growing and as it grew his own guilt and shame lessening, something which he welcomed. Without any further words Varus went with some of the people who were not carrying supplies.

Shortly thereafter Theobald and the last of the group set off. There had been no sign of the Orks and their continual absence had Theobald on edge. Just as they were moving out the creatures at last appeared. It seemed that La'lek's group had led them around in a circle before losing them as the Orks were coming at them from the other end of the camp. Alerted by the cry of alarm from the sentries as they scrambled down from the tower caused Theobald to turn around and see the Orks coming.

"RUN!" He yelled to all the others. They did not need any encouragement and took off running.

As they did so Varus and his group joined them. They were too busy running to ask if they had been successful, but that was not needed in any case. Looking back Theobald saw smoke rising from several places. Seconds later flames flared up and engulfed the area. They quickly reached the other barrels of promethium and ignited them as well in a blast of fire. The heat was intense and the force of the blast nocked several of the humans to the ground. More importantly; however, the explosions and fire separated the Orks from the humans and threw them into such disarray that the humans were able to make good their escape.

They were able to make their way back to the Ruins without further incident. They were the last ones to arrive, La'lek's group having made straight for the Ruins as soon as they had lost the Orks. Not all had made it and some of those who had were wounded, Theobald had Harland quietly move the worst ones a little ways away from the rest of the camp. All in all; however, it appeared that they had gained more than they had lost, both in numbers and supplies. He left the other officers to sort things out and organize and then left them.

He went to where he had seen La'lek's praying before they had left. As he had expected she was there, as were several members of her team. They were all kneeling before a fire a she chanted a prayer for those who had died that day. Remembering what he had done Theobald sank to his knees and joined them.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated, I hope that this makes up for the delay. Don't worry, the next chapter will be when things get moving and he will at last become a Rogue Trader. Quick question, what do you think of the Promethean Cult being practiced outside of Nocturne? Let me know in the comments. Please pray for all who need it and may Jesus bless you.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone, glad that you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope that you enjoy this one as well.**

Time passed till it began to blur and Theobald was not entirely sure how much had passed. In order to avoid loses they only conducted attacks when lack of supplies forced them to, at least Theobald's group did. In order to avoid detection he and the others had implemented the plan that he had been considering prior to the raid. After they had returned Theobald had each of the captains, with the exceptions of La'lek, Roland and Thresa, take their groups and a portion of the civilians and set up their own camps. Each of them took one of the astropaths with them to facilitate communications and coordination between the groups. There was also some movement between them, mostly those who served Thresa, who was working constantly to ensure that there were supplies, though in truth all that she could really do was check on those responsible for dealing with such matters in the different groups. The only other to regularly travel between the groups was Varus. The enginseer traveled between the groups administering to the weapons of the groups. The distance between the groups and the dangers of travel made this difficult and so Theobald instructed him to teach the people at the various camps the maintenance rituals. Varus was reluctant to teach more than the basics, but at last he consented. He received aid in this from an unexpected source.

La'lek had continued to pray by her fires and Theobald and her command continued to attend and they were soon joined by others in ever increasing numbers till virtually all in their camp were attending. By some means which Theobald could not fathom word of it spread to the other camps and La'lek was called upon to travel to them to teach them the prayers and rituals. With no priest to minister to them the prayers offered a form of comfort which they were in need of. This newfound devotion not only helped with moral, it also helped in more secular ways.

Part of the Promethium Cult called for self-sufficiency and this translated into each person caring for their weapons as much as possible. For some this was a simple affair as they had no weapon but the knives that they had formed from pieces of metal. These had become popular among the fighters, even those who had other weapons. Varus had showed them had to shape them into actual blades and these had taken a variety of forms, some wanting straight blades while others wanting serrated blades. Regardless of form the blades took they were all referred to as 'Gougers' and were highly prized by their wielders.

Despite their avoiding battle as much as possible, they still took loses. The most painful had been when Fulton's camp had been found by the Orks. The astropath attached to his camp had sent out a single message, it had been short and to the point: the camp was lost and any attempt to aid them would result in only more deaths and no gain. Though it tore at his heart and the hearts of those around him Theobald held them back. La'lek later went to Fulton's camp and reported that it had been entirely destroyed. Theobald was certain that he was not the only one that night who prayed for forgiveness before the fire that night, nor the only one who vowed vengeance.

While the loss of Fulton and his camp had been the most traumatizing loss, there had been others, many others. With neither medicine nor trained medical personal sicknesses swept through the humans, most of whom had been weakened by hunger or brutal treatment, a simple cough or cold could be the herald of death and often that death was passed on to others. Indeed, they lost more to sickness and hunger than they did to the Orks. Though their numbers were occasionally replaced by groups of slaves freed in raids the loses still weighed heavily on Theobald.

Water was often short as well. Despite the water that they had taken and strict rationing they were constantly in short supply, to compound the problem the weather, for that time of year, was unusually dry and there was no rain to help with the problem. This meant that bathing was strictly forbidden which, in addition to further contributing to the spread of disease, also meant that it did not take long before Theobald and all the others smelled worse than the Orks and their clothing was covered with filth. As Alonso pointed out; however, at least it made it easier to blend in with their surroundings.

Nor did the infrequent communications with the outside do much to raise their spirits. Theobald was no longer speaking with the governor, instead he was speaking with Lord General Militant Hallan Unstead, the commanding of the force being assembled to liberate the world. He instructed Theobald to discontinue further attacks, indeed though Godwinne did not say so Theobald suspected that the man was rather dismissive of their efforts. Instead Unstead instructed them to perform reconnaissance missions. To note where the Orks were camped, the locations of any which looked to be leaders, where their vehicles were staged and the location and numbers of any anti-air weaponry they had. While their missions were mainly reconnaissance and not combat they still clashed with the Orks, indeed Theobald was convinced that the destruction of Fulton's camp had been the result of the Orks hunting for them in retaliation for one such clash.

Thus did time pass and not only did hope fade of relief ever coming, but Theobald found that he was having difficulty at times remembering what life had been like before the invasion. It seemed at times that this life was all that he had ever known and all that he would ever know. The life of a scribe seemed like a half-remembered dream. Then everything changed. They had gathered for the regular meeting and Thresa had just finished giving her regular report when Godwinne, who had not been at the meeting came rushing up. Displaying a nimbleness which they had all developed through their time spent in the Ruins he came up to Theobald. From the expression on his face it was clear that he had something important to say.

"What is it?" Theobald asked, absently scratching at the beard that had grown in due to there not being water for shaving. That lack of water had also prevented the washing needed to keep small creatures way and many were infested with them. The only other means of getting rid of them was to shave off all of one's hair and many were reluctant to do so when any cut carried the risk of infection.

"I have been in communion with the relief force!" Godwinne declared. That got the attention of everyone present.

"How?" Asked Thresa. While there had been communication with the oncoming relief force it only occurred when all the astropaths could come together to bridge the distance.

"The choir is not needed," Godwinne declared; "The fleet has arrived." This simple statement caused a stir of excitement among those present and he was immediately barraged by a host of questions.

"When will they get here?"

"How many of them are there?" At last Godwinne held up his hands for silence. When he had received it he continued.

"The fleet has arrived on the edge of the system and due to the lack of any Ork ships in the system they hope to begin landing in the next few days." He then turned to look directly at Theobald.

"Colonel, the Lord General commands that you and your forces are commanded to attack the anti-air installations that you have observed in order to facilitate an easier landing. You are also to conduct such attacks as you can to sow confusion among the Orks and hinder their ability to react when the attacks begin." Theobald nodded and turned to La'lek.

"Captain, the map." She nodded and retrieved it.

It wasn't much of a map, a grubby piece of paper on which they had crudely drawn the city and marked known locations of Ork forces. Theobald stared at it for several minutes, deep in thought. While he still did not consider himself a great strategist, he prided himself on his ability to plan out an attack or two. After he was done looking at the map and considering his options he looked up and addressed those gathered around him, pointing to points on the map to emphasize his point.

"Captain Alonso will take his force and strike here to lure the Orks away and then strike this rocket launching area. Captain Forbin will attack this airfield. Meanwhile we will strike here, where they seem to be manufacturing vehicles and then we shall lead the Orks on a long and merry chase. Hopefully that will be enough to satisfy our orders as I do not see how we could do any more." He looked to the others, but they all indicated that they could think of nothing else that they could do. Orders where issued and they set off within the hour. They moved through the Ruins with a speed and agility that would once have been thought impossible. Though their numbers had been reduced, the survivors had all been hardened into lethal fighters, indeed there was little of the workers, farmers, servants and whatever else they had been before the coming of the Orks.

Godwinne reported that the others were also on the move and appeared to be on schedule. La'lek and her company spread out ahead. Their mission had become over more difficult and more important as time passed. The Orks, appearances to the contrary, were not stupid. They had realized that all of the raids that the humans had launched had all come from the Ruins. Indeed, it had been this knowledge which caused them to hunt down and destroy Fulton's command. They had sought the other camps, but ambushes sprung by the humans caused them to give up the attempt and establish a series of camps near the edge of the Ruins to hem the humans in, or so it appeared. Personally Theobald suspected that the Orks were daring the humans to come out and seemed to enjoy chasing them when they emerge from the Ruins. La'lek's task was to find a path through the Ork camps and patrols. Sometimes they were unsuccessful and the Orks discovered them and this had on several occasions forced the humans back into the Ruins. Theobald prayed that today would not be one of those times.

His prayers were answered and they made their way through without being spotted, though they were forced to take cover several times at the sound of Ork vehicles. Messages from his fellow astropaths informed Godwinne that the others had also made it through, though Alonso reported that he had been forced to engage one patrol, fortunately it had been a small one and the humans had been able to deal with them before they could sound an alarm. Once through the perimeter they were able to move with greater speed. In an ironic twist of fate being hemmed in the Ruins actually helped the humans once they were out of it. The Orks had placed so many of their number near the Ruins that once past them there were wide stretches between their forces and the humans had little difficulty moving unseen.

They arrived at their target shortly after sundown. It was a collection of warehouses which the Orks had converted to a factory complex of sorts in which new vehicles were cobbled together in such a haphazard manner that Theobald was amazed that they actually ran and captured human vehicles were desecrated to suit the Orks' taste. Just as he was surprised that the Ork vehicles ran Theobald was also surprised that the machine spirits of the vehicles did not rebel and refuse to run, but run they did. No matter, if everything went as planned they would cease to serve their new masters.

He lay flat on his belly on top of a ruined building, La'lek at his side staring down at the complex trying to get some idea of the Ork sentries and patrols, a difficult task as these were as disorganized and chaotic as everything else the Orks did. He trusted this part more to La'lek than to himself, she had a talent for situations like this. After several silent minutes she began to speak while pointing at a corner of the fence which surrounded the facility.

"There, there is the place to strike."

"Why there?" Theobald asked.

"The rubble there hinders the patrols and the lights from the towers leaves shadows we can hide in. That will allow us to get close enough to move in and plant the explosives once you've lured the Orks away." That had been another gift from enginseer Varus. Theobald had never realized how many things could be converted into explosives till Varus had showed them how easily they could be made.

The plan was simple. Theobald would launch a diversionary attack and then withdraw, hopefully drawing the Orks after them allowing La'lek and her command to infiltrate the facility and set their explosives. It seemed inconceivable that the Orks would fall for the same trick time after time, but it seemed that Orks could not resist a fight, even when common sense would be to do otherwise. While they did not have enough explosives to destroy the entire facility, it was hoped that the explosions would start fires which would spread through the facility to areas unaffected by the explosions. Even if that did not happen they hoped that the destruction and confusion would be enough to hinder production while the invasion was being carried out. La'lek slid off to join her command and move into position, her place being taken by several of Theobald's command, including Godwinne while the rest of his command deployed in the surrounding area. She had said that it would take about ten minutes to move into positon so Theobald began to countdown in his head, he would not be able to see them when the countdown reached zero so all that he could do was hope that they were out of the line of fire when the shooting began.

When he reached zero he raised his bolter, thinking that it was a good thing that the invasion was here as he was running low on ammunition, not having found many rounds during their raids. He aimed at a group of about a dozen or so Orks which were wandering around the perimeter. Though his aim had improved greatly in all the time of fighting he still preferred to aim for groups where there was little to no chance of missing. As soon as the Orks were directly across the street from the building they were on Theobald opened fire on them, sending a barrage of shells into the group.

As soon as he opened fire the others with him open fire as well. One of them, a young man named Paulus Ibric aimed his autogun and shot out the searchlights of the two nearest towers. Paulus was the best shot in the group, having grown up in one agri zones and been fond of hunting. At the same time that the others opened fire Godwinne sent the signal for the others to launch their own attacks. It was hoped that this would further confuse the Orks, even though it they had seen very little evidence that the Orks were organized enough to be confused by simultaneous multiple attacks. Their combined fire took down the Ork patrol and did the same for the first few groups which were drawn by the sound of gunfire. These; however, were only small, disorganized groups. It was not long before larger groups began to arrive and it was clearly not be long they rushed the humans positions.

"FALL BACK!" Theobald yelled at the top of his lungs. Those around him broke off and began to head down to the ground floor and then flee into the streets. Before he also fled Godwinne sent the command into the minds of those who were too far away to hear the command. They did not like having the astropath in their heads, but it was preferable to death.

As Theobald had hoped the Orks gave whoops and cries of triumph and gave chase. The humans had a slight lead on the Orks and had gained a great deal of skill in the art of moving through the city. However; the Orks were capable of moving through the streets at great speed themselves and they were soon hot on the humans' heels, yelling and firing their weapons. For the most part this fire was as wild and inaccurate as it usually was, but they occasionally go lucky and several of the humans fell. There was a reversal of fortunes when the two groups entered a street where Theobald had placed a part of his command, including Roland and his Ogryns for this event. They opened fire as Theobald and the others surged past them, who then turned and added their own firepower to that of the ambushers.

The Orks were taken completely by surprise and a number of them were cut down before they could recover. The remaining Orks fell back and began to rally when a series of explosions sounded, signaling that La'lek and her command had accomplished its mission. The Orks turned to look in the directions of the explosions, clearly not sure what they should do, continue to fight the humans in front of them, or head in the directions of the explosions. Before they could make up their minds Theobald signaled for his command to fall back. Either the Orks would react by chasing them again and being led on the chase he had talked about earlier or they would head back to factories, allowing Theobald and his command to attack them in the rear. Before the Orks could make up their minds the rumbling of engines where heard.

With a roar which was nearly deafening three aircraft flew overhead, to the surprise of Theobald and he imagined everyone else the aircraft were clearly Imperial. Before they could recover from their surprise a second group of aircraft was heard approaching. This trio did not just fly over. They slowed down and dropped low and sprayed the Orks as they flew over. The Orks were shredded, the fire came so close that the humans were also forced to dive for cover. After a few moments the humans raised their heads and looked up. Above them the night sky was lit by whole new constellations of stars. As some of the nearer ones descended they revealed themselves to be more Imperial craft. Theobald had seen shuttles and cargo haulers before, some of the craft before them were of similar shape and size, but others were completely unfamiliar, being both sleeker and more deadly looking. Even the ones which bore some resemblance to the shuttles had noticeable differences.

They looked much newer, or at least better maintained. Also, they descended and were illuminated by the lights that still worked it was revealed that the shuttles were gilded on the sides. Theobald blinked a few times, not quite sure that he had seen what he had seen. At last he decided that he had, indeed, seen what he had seen. It did not matter, they were humans and that was good enough for him. He turned to his command and signaled them to follow him and they began to move towards the sight of the nearest landing.

The place had been known of the Garden of Reflection, a garden whose stated purpose was to provide a peaceful place where nobles could reflect on their duty to the world and the Emperor, though it had rarely been used for that purpose if what Theobald had heard been true. Three shuttles had set down in a row and dozens of men piling out and forming a perimeter. As they drew closer Theobald signaled for a halt. The Imperial forces looked to be on edge and Theobald had no desire to have his forces shot to pieces by the very forces coming to liberate them. So he had his company hang back and advanced into the open alone. The sentries were alert and spotted him almost at once.

"Halt!" They cried out. Theobald did and they advanced slowly on him. As they get closer he was able to take a closer look at them and they were nothing like what he expected members of the Imperial Guard to look like.

Their uniforms were unusually elaborate. Indeed they looked more like a collection of nobles on their way to a party at the Governor's mansion. Their uniforms were brightly colored and included powdered wigs and tricorner hats. As they came to a halt about six feet from him the wind changed and Theobald was able to smell them. He couldn't place the smell with a moment, not having much experience with it, especially since the invasion, but then a memory came to him. Once, about a year ago a noble had come to complain about something or other and he had brought one of the courtesans with him and she had smelled something like these men did.

 _Throne!_ Theobald realized.

 _They're wearing perfume!_

"Who are you?" One of them demanded. Looking at them in their pristine and elaborate uniforms suddenly made him feel conscious of his worn and filthy appearance. He fought down the urge to try to brush himself off, instead he drew himself up to his full height and tried to sound the way the nobles often did when speaking.

"I am Colonel Theobald Traub, acting commander of the Wayfarer's Haven Planetary Defense Force." The guardsmen looked at him for a moment and then burst out in scornful laughter.

"Oh of course you are," one of the men said after he regained the ability to speak; "And I am Lord Calixis." Theobald had no idea who that was, but he knew he was being mocked.

The thought caused anger to flare up within him. He had been fighting Orks for Emperor knew how long, watching people die in almost every way imaginable and living with constant fear and hunger and these fops were laughing at him. That anger shoved away any feeling of inferiority and he addressed the lead trooper as if he were a junior who had forgotten his place and had to be reminded of it. He placed his face inches from the other man's face, taking a perverse pleasure in seeing the man's face crinkle at Theobald's smell.

"Listen to me." He said in a low tone of voice.

"I _am_ Colonel Traub." As he said this he tapped one of the two pieces of wire that someone had twisted into crude facsimiles of the silver stars which marked the rank of colonel in the PDF.

"I was given this rank by Governor Clodius Albinus himself and I have been acting under the orders of Lord General Militant Hallan Unstead and you will address me with the respect my rank is due." The men did not appear to have been cowed, but also seemed willing to consider that Theobald might be telling the truth. He turned to one of the other men.

"Trooper Acel. Escort this…officer to Lady-Colonel Augustine." He turned and gave Theobald a look.

"For your sake "Sir" you had better be telling the truth. The Lady-Colonel does not care for peasants who waste her time." Theobald did not reply, instead moving past the man to follow Acel. As he did he looked back and saw the remaining troopers putting perfumed handkerchiefs to their noses.

Trooper Acel did not take him far, just to the space behind the shuttles where men and women in fine clothing, though not uniforms, were setting up tents and preparing food, the smell of which made Theobald's mouth water. Acel approached a trooper manning a vox unit who gave Theobald the same kind of disdainful look that the others had given him and which was really starting to get on his nerves. Acel indicated Theobald.

"Vox operator Baudin. This is Colonel Traub of the local PDF. Sargent Beaufort orders you to make contact with Lady-Colonel Augustine and arrange for him to meet her." Baudin's face displayed an expression which seemed to be a mixture of disbelief, revulsion and malicious amusement and Theobald decided that he did not like the vos operator either.

The man spoke into the vox and then listened to the reply. They seemed to have as much trouble believing that Theobald was who he said he was. He was required to state his full name, his rank and the identification number which all citizens of Haven were given at birth. This at last seemed to convince whoever Baudin was speaking to and he informed them that a shuttle was being dispatched to retrieve him. Wherever the shuttle had come from it had clearly had some way to travel before the sound of its engines were heard. It was smaller but equally decorative as the others and was skillfully handled as the pilot set it down gently and the hatch slid open. Theobald had seen many shuttles before, but had never been on one and he found that his breath was spreading up to match his heartrate and he felt his skin grow cold and clammy. Determined not to show any unease in the face of these disdainful fops. Instead he forced himself to appear calm and smile as he sent a mental message to Godwinne to bring the command in. As he forced himself towards the shuttle he turned back to Acel.

"Trooper Acel. My command will be moving towards your lines. Do be a good man and see that they are fed and the wounded tended to. I hope you brought plenty of rations, their likely to hungry, especially the Ogryns."

As he entered the shuttle he saw that it was a small affair, with a dozen padded seats and a hatch leading the cockpit. The hatch was opened allowing Theobald to see the occupants, a piolet and a servitor seated next to it. The piolet was dressed far less elaborately and lifted the shuttle up without a word. Theobald felt his body pressed back into the cushion and he had to fight to keep what little was in his stomach in his stomach. In an effort to distract himself he turned to the piolet.

"Are we going to Colonel Augustine's headquarters?" He had to shout to be hear over the roar of the engines. The piolet did not respond, continuing to focus on his tasks. Instead it was the servitor who spoke in a flat, mechanical voice.

"Negative Colonel Traub, there has been a change of plans. You are to be presented to the Reclamation Council aboard the Oberon-class Battleship _Divine Fury,_ flagship of the liberation fleet." Theobald's mind went blank at the realization that he was actually leaving his world and traveling into space, the thought was almost overwhelming and he found himself griping the restraining harness which held him in place and wanting to close his eyes as tight as possible. After what seemed like an eternity the shuttle seemed to slow and it settled down on a hard service. The servitor helped him from the harness, as it had helped him put it on originally. The hatch slowly lowered and Theobald, after taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he walked down the hatch and looked on a starship for the first time.

To his comfort he found the walls of metal and masses of machinery, whose function he could not begin to guess, reminded him vaguely of the city in general and the Ruins in particular. This helped to ease his uneasiness, uneasiness which returned when he saw the body of soldiers waiting at the base of the hatch.

These looked different from the soldiers on the planet. While elaborately dressed in uniforms of blue edged with red and gold and epaulettes they still looked more military and practical than those worn by the soldiers below. The leader of the group saluted as Theobald came down to them. Not sure what else to do he returned the salute, wincing internally at how sloppy it was in comparison. The man looked as if he shared Theobald's opinion but was too professional to say anything, instead sticking to formality.

"Colonel Traub? I am Sargent Dresch of the 106th Mordian Iron Guard. I am here to escort you to the Council." Theobald nodded and found himself being escorted through the corridors of the ship, a fact for which he was grateful as he would have become lost had he tried it on his own.

As they continued on their way he suddenly felt as if fingers were being dragged across his brain. It was like when one of the astropaths was communicating him, but this was far more intense and invasive. So much so that it almost caused him to stumble. Fortunately he was able to keep his footing and the soldiers did not seem to notice, or at least did not comment on it. At long last after what seemed like hours they arrived at a large door guarded by more Mordians. As his escort halted Dresch turned to him.

"We are here Sir. I was instructed to take your arms before appearing before the Council for security reasons." Theobald handed over his bolter and chainsword, feeling strangely naked without them and entered once the guards opened the door.

The interior was a room clearly designed for strategy sessions. The room was dominated by a large, circular table which was hollow in the middle. In the space was a massive holo projector was projecting an image of the city below, complete with numbers marks and lines which Theobald assumed were indications of how the battle was going. However; it was not the holo which drew his attention, but the people sitting at the table.

In the center was a hard-faced older man in a Mordian uniform, though one far more elaborate than the others and included a large number of medals. On his right hand was a woman who appeared to be in her late thirties. She was uniformed like the soldiers that he had first met, though like the man Theobald assumed was Lord General Unstead it was more elaborate. It included lace gloves and face powder which turned her face a rather sickly looking white. There was also another man in a Mordian uniform, though less elaborate than Unstead's. Next to him was a dark-skinned Sisters of Battle armor, one of high rank if her armor was any indication. The final person present was a middle-aged man. He was the only one present at the table who was wearing neither armor are a uniform. Instead he wore the robes of an Ecclesiarchy. As one they all turned to regard Theobald as he entered the room and none of them looked particularly impressed by him, a fact which he was becoming very tired of. In order to break the awkward silence which had fallen at his entrance and to attempt to appear somewhat professional he came to attention and saluted. After having done it several times and not having to move while doing it so he thought it came off better.

It must not have been too good as the uniformed woman merely rolled her eyes but the two Mordians rose, snapped to attention and returned the salute, though in a far more crisp and impressive manner than Theobald's had been. The older man then glared at the woman till she rose and lazily returned the salute. The Sister of Battle and the Ecclesiarch did not salute, instead they rose and made the sign of the Aquila. Theobald gathered his confidence and began to speak.

"Colonel Theobald Traub, Wayfarer's Haven Planetary Defense Force." The Lord General nodded and indicated those around him, starting with the Mordian.

"This is Colonel Sturm Hessman of the 95th Mordian Heavy Infantry." He then indicated the elaborately dressed woman.

"Lady-Colonel Ambrosina Augustine of 215th Scintillan Fusiliers." He then indicated the Sister of Battle.

"Canoness Preceptor Fernanda Nulaati of the Order of the Burning Sword." He then turned to the Ecclesiarchy official.

"And this Deacon Vetora Bellair, personal representative of Cardinal Wilreich Kant." Theobald nodded to the officers and made the sign of the Aquila to the canoness and the deacon. The general then continued speaking.

"Now that that introductions are over we can continue our briefing." He took out a pointer and began pointing to various points on the city map.

"The landings are going well, better than anticipated in fact. Due to the Orks being deposited here by a space hulk, which then returned to the Warp, they had no ships to oppose us in orbit. They also appear to have few aircraft and fewer air defenses. Thanks to the efforts of Colonel Traub's command we were able to make landings with little initial opposition.

"However," here he turned to Augustine; "I must note that your Fusiliers left early and came down some distance from where they were supposed to land." Augustine made a dismissive hand wave.

"It appeared that we could ensure an unopposed landing there and then link up with the rest of our forces. Unfortunately the terrain is proving more difficult than expected and that is hindering our efforts." The general gave her a dark look.

"Plans are in place for a reason and if you had adhered to it then you would not be facing these difficulties. For the duration of this campaign you will refrain from any further such initiative." Hessman nodded in approval, but Augustine seemed unaffected. Staring at the holo-map Theobald recognized the area which the Fusiliers had landed in and the area in which they were supposed to be.

"Pardon me Sir," He interjected as he indicated the map; "My troops and I know the area fairly well in question and we can guide the Scintillans to where they are supposed to be." Augustine looked down her nose at him.

"I thank you "Colonel," but we have no need of a peasant rabble." Theobald bristled, but expected the general to come to his aid. Instead the man remained silent for a minute looking strangely uncomfortable. At last he spoke.

"Thank you Colonel Traub, but I believe that we are quite capable of accomplishing our goal without the assistance of your command." For the first time Canoness Preceptor Nulaati spoke.

"General, that attitude is most unbecoming. I am aware of your cultural views, but fulfilling the Emperor's will that this world be retaken takes president."

"I am aware of the Emperor's will Canoness, but trusting the lives of his soldiers to undisciplined rabble is also not his will." Theobald felt his temper rising at the insult to his people. Deacon Bellair seemed to sense what he was thinking, as he quickly interjected himself into their conversation.

"Lord General, Canoness, if I may. I believe that we should focus on what we have accomplished. We have landed our forces to retake this world with minimal loses. I propose that we adjourn for the night that we can all rest and give proper thanks to the Emperor for our success and plead for that success to continue." None of the others seemed particularly happy, but also seemed uninterested in starting a fight and the council began to break up. Theobald was not sure what to do, but then Colonel Hessman came up to him to discuss his forces and together they worked out means for them to safely make contact with the various forces of the liberation expedition. Those in the Ruins would stay there till a larger area had been secured and it would be safe for them to venture out. Afterwards a member of the ship's crew showed him to quarters which had been set aside for him.

While the quarters were not elaborate, after the conditions that Theobald had been living in it seemed like a palace. There was an actual bathing space and he could stay in it for as long as he wanted, a luxury that he had never had even before the invasion. After soaking for some time and feeling cleaner than he ever had in his entire life he found a man waiting for him. He was clad in the clothing of a servant and held a bundle in his arms.

"Who are you?" Theobald asked. The man bowed.

"I am Nestor Sir, bond-servant to Deacon Bellair. He wishes to speak to you and sent me to help you with your grooming." Theobald nodded, feeling that it would not be much different from the mass grooming sessions which the people underwent once a month prior to the invasion. It was.

First Nestor had him lay down on a table and gave him a vigorous massage which was simultaneously painful and pleasant. Afterwards Nestor had Theobald sit in a chair and proceeded to give him a shave and a haircut. Finally Nestor opened the bundle and revealed that it contained a Wayfarer's Haven PDF dress uniform, a royal purple coat over a white shirt and lite blue pants tucked into black leather boots. It was very stiff and Theobald felt uncomfortable and slightly ridiculous, but he did feel a thrill of pride when he looked at the colonel's insignias on either side of the coat's collar. There was also a hat, a red large beret, which fortunately was not worn indoors and Theobald did not have to wear it, though he did carry it on his left forearm.

Nestor led him through a number of corridors and employed several elevators till they at last reached a door guarded by two Sisters Of Battle. They stood still as statues, though they nodded almost imperceptivity as Theobald passed. The interior was a suite of rooms far more elaborate than the one which Theobald was using. In the center of the main room was a table on which was a crystal decanter and two goblets. Deacon Bellair was seated at one of the chairs and he rose as Theobald entered.

"My dear boy, do come in. Sit and have some wine." Theobald sat and Nestor poured him wine and then withdrew from the room. Theobald had never had wine before and took a cautious sip. Bellair had no such reluctance and took a generous gulp before he began to speak.

"I want to thank you for coming to see me, late as it is Colonel, there is something that I wished to speak to you about in private." Feeling slightly uneasy Theobald waited for Bellair to continue.

"We did not get into much detail at the meeting after you arrived, but we had gone over the situation in more depth beforehand. The force of Orks is relatively small for their kind and it is believed that the world will be reclaimed. Once that happens it is rather a given that you, as the leader of the resistance, will be the center of much attention. I would like to go over what you are going to say. Specifically with regards Governor Clodius Albinus and Cardinal Wilreich Kant. It is vital that it is made clear that you were operating under their orders and enacting the plan that they outlined for you." This nearly made Theobald choke on his wine.

It had been he and his people who had fought, suffered and died while those two men had fled on the first day of battle and had doubtless had been having a much easier time of it than those who had stayed behind. Something of what he was thinking must have been visible on his face because the deacon leaned forward and his face became a good deal less friendly.

"Let me explain something Colonel. These men are of far greater importance than you and will likely go further. You can help that, but hindering will not be tolerated.

"If you say anything other than what I tell you to say, the consequences will be unpleasant. Both for you and those who follow you.

"When you came aboard you were scanned by a sanctioned Psyker and that scan not only confirmed who you are, but it also revealed some very interesting facts. Your use of xenos weaponry, consorting with Psykers and have been introduced to a cult by a mutant."

"But the Promethean Cult is sanctioned! As are the people of Nocturnean!"

"An interesting argument and technically correct; however, that is a complex issue and most people do not like complex questions. I can assure you that the Order of the Burning Sword do not. Were the idea of heresy to be planted in their heads I do not think anyone would be able to hold them back and I doubt that the Mordians and the Scintillans would even be inclined to try." Theobald felt as if he had been punched in the stomach by one of the Ogryns.

After all that they had been through it seemed they might die at hands of the very people they had thought had come to save them. The whole thing was just so unfair, but then Bellair smiled gently again. He leaned forward and patted Theobald on the hand like a kindly older relative offering comfort and advice. When he spoke again all the threaten tones were gone. Instead he sound comforting and hopeful.

"But it doesn't have to be that way, in fact, it would be better if it were not." His voice then became one of calm reason.

"Think Colonel. The Imperium is locked in conflict on multiple fronts. What good does dissention do for anyone but our enemies? We need stories of courage and the rewards of that courage to inspire all those who are fighting and dying for us. Would take that from them in futile gesture?" Theobald was not sure what to say, but then something Bellair had said came up and he latched on that.

"Rewards?" He asked. Bellair smiled in a knowing way.

"Yes, rewards. The victory here, preventing the Orks from spreading to other systems, will win the Cardinal much favor. In fact, it is an open secret that this will earn him a seat on the Holy Synod of Terra, the ruling council of the Adeptus Ministorum. They also hold a seat among the Council of the High Lords of Terra.

"Once there he, along with his kinsman the Ecclesiarch, will propose that as a reward for your services you be granted a Warrant of Trade, elevating you to the rank of Rouge Trader and I have Governor Albinus's word that he shall provide you with a ship and crew." Theobald was once again stunned.

Him, a Rogue Trader! They were almost mythical figures, the men and women who sailed the stars, able to go wherever they would. Some whispered that some had even left the Imperium itself and he was being offered the chance to join them. He hesitated for a moment, a thought occurred to him and he looked Bellair in the eye.

"What of those who fought with me?' The deacon smiled in assurance.

"Have no fear, they shall be rewarded as well for their services." His gaze now became probing.

"Do we have an understanding?" Theobald's hesitations were gone.

He had always wanted to travel and the now the opportunity to do so was right in front of him. Also, it seemed that those whom he had suffered alongside would also be rewarded for their efforts. So why not accept? As Bellair said, the Albinus and Kant were going to get the credit no matter what he said and did so why shouldn't he get his share and ensure his followers got theirs? He took another sip of wine and looked Bellair in the eye.

"We do."

Months passed in a whirl. As Bellair had predicted the Orks, taken almost completely off-guard, were soon scattered and their counter-attacks were easily beaten back. Theobald was no expert, but he could not help but note that the Sisters of Battle and the Mordians appeared to do the majority of the fighting while the Scintillans always seemed to avoid the bulk of the fighting, usually arriving just in time to take part in the kill. As for the resistance fighters, while occasionally employed for scouting or local knowledge, for the most part their part in the war was done. They moved from the Ruins to areas which had been liberated. The combat forces of the liberation force seemed to think that they were a bit of a nuisance. However; they had also been accompanied by a contingent of Orders Hospitaller, who immediately began to provide aid to those in need of their help. It was not long before the Orks were driven from the city and some semblance of normalcy. People were liberated from Ork labor camps and new people brought in from off-world to make up for the losses suffered by the civilians.

Theobald himself saw very little of this. In preparation for his elevation tutors were provided to give him a crash course on the various subjects which he would be expected to know about. The subjects in question ranging from economics to politics to space travel and warfare. The lessons seemed unending and on more than one occasion Theobald found himself rubbing his aching head and wishing he was back fighting the Orks. Then there were the speeches.

Whenever he managed to escape from the tutors he found himself besieged by news people asking questions and thrusting pic casters into his face. Remembering his agreement with Bellair he played the part of the modest hero, downplaying his own role and praising both the courage of those who fought alongside him and the intelligence of Kant and Albinus and their tactical skill. He at times felt bile rising up within as he said the words, but he thought of the rewards and forced the words out.

After the Orks were driven from the city the governor himself returned to the world, Kant of course remained on Terra. There was a massive celebration to welcome him back, including a parade which Theobald led, drill being forced in among his other subjects. It was also followed by a grand feast and, of course, more speeches in the Governor's honor. The only good thing of the affair was that he was able to speak with Alonso and La'lek. He had at last learned what the reward for the men and women who had fought for him.

With the damage done to the planet and its infrastructure it was unlikely that it would be able to meet its tithe. Thus, in place of its usual tithe of resources and currency, it would offer people. Those members of the resistance who met the requirements, as well as others brought in to make up the difference, would be sent to the Imperial Guard as the Wayfarer's Haven First Light Infantry Regiment with Alonso promoted to the rank of colonel and La'lek promoted to major serving as his second. The Ruins were to serve as the training ground and Theobald learned that part of the training included each member creating their own Gouger. At long last the day he had been waiting for arrived. A special currier ship arrived from Terra itself bearing with it the Warrant of Trade to be bestowed on Theobald.

The day was bright and clear, perfect weather for the parade down the street leading to the governor's palace, which had been renamed Victory Avenue. Theobald marched down it, cheered by crowds on both sides of the street. Most faces he did not recognize, but others he did. There were the members of the Haven First, with Alonso, La'lek, Roland, Thresa and Forbin, all of them looking distinguished in their new uniforms of lite gray.

Theobald himself had discarded his PDF uniform for one of his own design, with the help of the Governor's own tailor. He had kept the black boots, combining them with black pants. He wore a heavy overcoat of blood red with gold epaulets and braiding. On his chest was the one piece of the PDF uniform that he had kept, a silver breast sculpted with muscles an Astartes might envy and upon which was pinned the Star of Victory, the world's highest medal. On his hip he wore a ceremonial saber on one side and a las pistol that the Lord General had presented to him after Theobald had returned the weapons he had born to the Sisters of Battle.

Before Theobald marched three bulk servitors. Each carried a banner and had had their mouths and vocal cords replaced with Vox casters. The one in the middle carried a banner bearing a banner bearing the sigil of the Ecclesiarchy and blasted out praise to the Emperor and the Cardinal. The one on the right carried the banner of the Governor's family and blasted his praises. The one on the left bore Theobald's new banner. It was blood red in color and in the center was black sword pointing down, its cross guard held in the talons of a golden bird of prey with its wings held up to form a V shape. The servitor blared out his victories and glories.

The march ended at the steps leading up the palace, where the Governor and the assembled nobles of the planet awaited him. The servitors moved to the side and Theobald made his way up the steps. When he reached the top the herald of the High Lords who had brought the Warrant of Trade from Terra stepped forward. As a final speech by the Governor ended the herald stepped forward, unrolled the warrant, a roll of the finest parchment bearing Theobald's coat of arms at the top and at the bottom a wax seal as big as his palm bearing the crest of the High Lords and began to read.

WARRANT OF TRADE

Resolved henceforth in the name of the Most Beneficent God-Emperor of Mankind, the High Lords of Terra grant this Warrant of Trade to:

THEOBALD TRAUB

And to all of his line, from now until the end of time.

The Bearer of this Warrant of Trade is granted the inalienable right to go forth beyond the sacred borders of the blessed Imperium, to contact such benighted civilizations as he may encounter, and to make war for the glory of the Emperor as he deems necessary. By the authority of the Senatorum Imperialis, this Warrant places the Bearer as a peer to the great powers of the Imperium, inter alia: Imperial Commanders, Chapter Masters of the Adeptus Astartes, and the masters of the Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition.

The authority this Warrant grants begins where the Imperium ends. Beyond the extent of Imperial rule, the bearer of this Warrant speaks with the voice of the Emperor Himself.

It is the bearer's right and his responsibility to claim whatever worlds, resources, or privileges he may obtain in any manner he chooses.

By writ of Seal of Holy Terra

As the man finished reading it he formally presented the document to Theobald. As he took it the crowd cheered and music blasted from the speakers. Theobald looked out on the vast crowd, all of them cheering him and smiled. It was truly the greatest day of his life.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope that you liked this chapter, it did not want to get written at times. What did you think of my portrayal of the regiments? If you know anything about them then you know why I wrote them that way. It may be some time before the next chapter as there are some other stories which I have been neglecting and I need to get back to, but I will be back. Please pray for the victims of the Florida shooting and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, hope that you had a happy Easter. As always I own nothing.**

Theobald sat in his cabin and reached for the liquor bottle. He already drunk more than half the bottle so it took him several tries before he got it. At last he got it and poured himself another shot and downed it in one gulp. As the drink burned down his throat and warmed his belly Theobald thought about how he had arrived at this situation. He supposed that he should have realized that this was what Governor Albinus and the Cardinal Kant had planned and if he were not the butt of the joke he would laugh, as doubtless the Governor and the Cardinal were.

A ship and crew had been promised and a ship and crew had been delivered, though he had seen neither till after the ceremony and he knew why. Theobald had always imagined rogue traders leading fleets from the bridges of mighty warships such as battles ships and cruisers. His ship, _The Opportunity,_ was neither of those. Instead it was an old Vagabond Class Merchant Trader. In addition to being old it had clearly received only minimal maintenance for at least the last two or three centuries, if not longer. Several sections of the ship had had to be sealed off due to the risk of the hull breach. Systems also had a horrible habit of exploding at random times and entry into the Warp was always a cause for unease, not just for the reasons that all sane people feared Warp travel, but also because of the possibility that the ship's engines would explode. If the ship was dismal, the crew was worse.

They were, as far as Theobald could tell, the worst dregs of the planet. At least those which were still human as more than half of the crew were made up of servitors, Theobald suspected that they had previously been either PDF deserters or those who had collaborated with the Orks during their occupation. Even the officers were of poor quality and Theobald was sure they were only here because no one else would take them. The ship had neither an astropathic choir nor even a navigator. Without the latter they were forced to make a chained series of micro-jumps to get anywhere the only commissions that he could get were hauling cargo between the various systems which neighbored Haven's and barely paid enough to cover the costs of the trip, to say nothing of improving the ship or the crew. Far from the glamorous life that he expected Theobald found himself little more than a glorified chartist captain and a rather poor one to boot. He wished his old companions were with him, but that would mean that they were trapped on this rust heap as well.

He was shaken from his intoxicating musings by the wail of an alarm. He jumped to his feet, swaying and staggering only slightly he was pleased to note and made for the bridge. As he hurried down the corridor he loosened the laspistol which he always carried to protect himself from the crew in the event of a mutiny. He stumbled into a lift and headed for the bridge. The wailing of the alarm was giving him a furious headache, but it, combined with the surge of adrenaline that he was experiencing, were helping to stave off the effects of the alcohol. The lift rattled and groaned its way to the bridge and opened onto a scene of chaos. The red emergency lights were on and all those still capable of doing so were yelling and screaming. Theobald opened his mouth to demand what was going on, when he saw what was going on.

A massive shape filled the front viewport. At first Theobald thought that it was a ship, but it looked like no ship that he had ever studied during his training. It was too large and misshapen. Indeed, if he focused, he could see what appeared to be several ships, as well as large chunks of ice and other debris. He had heard about these during his training, but for a moment his mind refused to accept what he was seeing. However; one of the bridge crew gave voice to what Theobald was thinking.

"SPACE HULK!" The words had the effect of shaking off the last effects of the alcohol and nocking Theobald out of his stupor.

"Helm," he yelled to the man moving that station; "GET US OUT OF THE WAY!" The man attempted to obey, but it was already too late. With a resounding crash the two collided. There was a resounding crash and everyone was thrown about. Theobald was thrown to the side, striking his head on the bulkhead and everything went black.

Consciousness slowly returned to Theobald and with it came pain. His head was pounding and his body felt as if it was one gigantic bruise. He rose slowly to his feet, his progress slowed by the pain and feelings of dizziness and queasiness in his stomach. The lights had gone out and when he called out no one replied. Feeling around in the dark till he found an emergency pack, including a flashlight. Using the light he examined the bridge and found that all the others were dead. He tried to reach other parts of the ship and received no reply. He then attempted to leave the bridge, but the doors would not open. It was then that he felt a trickle of stale air, turning the light upward he saw that a hole had been torn in the bridge ceiling. While this would normally have meant a hull breach, in this case there appeared to be a corridor above. At first he was confused, then what had happened came back to him. The Space Hulk! That must have been what had happened. They had struck the Hulk and they must have merged with the thing when they had struck and it appeared that the thing had a breathable atmosphere. Not appearing to have any other option he clambered up onto his command throne and pulled himself through the hole.

He found himself inside what appeared to be a ship's corridor and started walking down it, he had no idea where he was going, but it was better than being trapped on his ruined bridge. He was not sure how long he walked, but at least he had a plan now. He had seen other ships in the Hulk and his only hope was to find one which had a savior pod and then use it to leave the Hulk. It was not the best of plans, but it was the only one that he could think of and he may not have a great deal of time. The lessons on Space Hulks had been scarce on details, but one thing he did remember. Space Hulks entered and left the Warp, seemingly at random. If he did not get off the Hulk and soon, then he would be trapped on it when it returned to the Warp and who knew how long it would remain there. So he hurried down the corridor.

He was not sure how long he had been on the Hulk when he slowed, he had heard something. At first he thought it was just his footsteps echoing down the hall, but the sounds continued after he had stopped. It was difficult to make out anything definite but it soon became clear that there were indeed other people on board and they were coming closer to where he was. Theobald was about to call out to them when he paused. His lessons had warned that any who inhabited Space Hulks were inevitable foes. So as the sounds drew closer he drew his laspistol and looked about for somewhere to conceal himself, fortunately that was not difficult. There was a hole in the ceiling which led up into another corridor. Once through the hole he cautiously peeked over the edge to look down.

It was not long before they walked beneath the hole and Theobald was able to see them. They were human, or at least had once been. There were a dozen or so of them, all them showing signs of mutation, everything from extra limbs to scales and more. While these revolted him what effected Theobald most was the eight pointed star carved onto their flesh. The mark of Chaos! Another thing that he had been required to learn and which had given him nightmares for days afterwards. He instinctively drew his laspistol, when common sense caught up to him. He was alone and even in the unlikely event that he managed to kill them all there were likely more of them on the Hulk and he could not fight them all. So instead he began to inch away. As he did so, however; one of the mutants looked up and their eyes locked. For a moment there was a moment of silence then the creature gave a hissing cry.

The others all looked up and saw Theobald as well. They raised their weapons, a collection of auto and shotguns and fired up into the hole. Theobald quickly threw himself away from the hole and so those shots which made it through the hole missed him, though he still had to worry about those shots which made it through to ricochet off the ceiling. He quickly scrambled to his feet and started to run. Though he was able to rapidly distance himself from the mutants he continued to hear them as they clambered up through the hole after him. This was soon joined by the sound of someone banging on the side of the corridor. The structure of the Hulk meant that the sound echoed up and down the passages. The reason for this action soon became clear as Theobald heard the sounds of other groups, both behind and ahead of him.

Realizing that he was being surrounded the instincts, honed by his time fighting Orks, took over and Theobald picked up his pace. Abandoning his plan to stick to outer skin of the Hulk and headed deeper into the hulk. In order to make it harder for them to find him he did not move in a straight line. Rather he zigzagged. He climbed up to another level took a right turn and then a left turn. The Hulk was even more confusing than the Ruins had been. The various ships were all mashed together so that a passage may be straight, going up or going down one moment and then be going the exact opposite direction and he was soon hopelessly lost. For the moment he did not care as it was clear that the various groups were closing in on him. In desperation he turned off his light and ran on in darkness.

He hated doing so, but he felt he had to in order to increase his chances of avoiding detection. Even with his experience he was not familiar with the Hulk and he tripped and ran into bulkheads several times. He had the feeling that he had been heading down for some time and was now hopelessly lost and could not have backtracked his rout if he wanted to. If he had lost his way he had not lost his pursuers. He could hear them behind him and it seemed that they were gaining on him, he now being able to make up individual voices. This caused a fear-fueled burst of speed on his part and he suddenly found himself running into something. Risking the use of his light he found himself facing a giant skull.

He stumbled back for a moment and then realized that it was not a real skull, but the symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A moment of study revealed that it was attached to the side of a ship of that order which had crashed through the passageway before coming to a stop. At first Theobald thought that way was blocked, but after using his light again for a moment he saw that there were several holes in the side of the ship, one on his level. Hearing the sound of the various groups behind him converging he moved towards the hole, intending to either go through the ship or find somewhere to hide inside it. A sound emanating from the Mechanicus ship made him pause.

 _Throne!_ He cursed.

 _Is there no end to all of this?!_ Not interested in finding out what was making the noise from the ship and not wanting to meet the group behind him he instead climbed up to the second hold and squeezed into it. Once there he found that it narrowed too much for him to go on so instead he decided to wait till those chasing him gave up and went away. With great effort he managed to twist around to look out the hole, intending to watch them until they gave up and left. It was not long before his pursuers came into view, due to a number of them carrying lights Theobald was able take in some details of those who sought his life.

The mutants that he had seen before were there, as were a number of other mutants, some even more hideous. There were also humans among them, clad for the most part in rags and bearing the same mismatched assortment of weapons that the mutants carried. It was none of these, however; which drew Theobald's horrified gaze. It was the figure in the center which drew his attention. It was a massive figure, clad head to toe in armor, including a helm which sported two pairs of massive horns. Even though he had never seen one in person Theobald knew what it was. A Space Marine! A champion of humanity, but this one had become a twisted mockery of what it should have been. It two had mutated, its left arm having become a tentacle which sported a number of hooks which dripped a substance which leaked onto deck and appeared to be burning through it. There was an air of malevolence about it and it was all that Theobald could do not to lose control of his bowels.

Had any of them looked up they might have seen him, but they were no longer looking for him. All of their attention was on the hole that he had originally planned to go through. The sound which had discouraged Theobald was growing louder, whatever was making the noise was drawing closer. The traitor marine and its minions clearly heard it as well and were moving to face it. At last the cause of the noise was revealed. From out of the Mechanicus ship came it defenders, a horde of armed servitors.

They appeared withered and worn, as if they had not been maintained for some time, but there were many of them. Many appeared to be equipped for close combat, their hands and arms replaced with buzzing saws and whirring chain-blades and more. The mutants and their master opened fire and some of the servitors fell, but they had clearly been programed to defend the ship and the others fought on regardless of their loses and once they reached the Chaos worshipers things began to change in their favor. Their weaponry consisted mainly of cutting implements and electronic flails. While the cultists had melee weapons of their own and some of them were heavily muscled, they were for the most part overwhelmed by the cold, precise strikes of the servitors. The one exception was the traitor marine.

As soon as the servitors had appeared it had raised a bolter and opened fire. The shells each tore one of the constructs apart before the rest of them closed with the creature and its followers. The fallen marine gave a hate-filled roar and crushed the skull of the first to approach it with the bolter. While the bolter was an effective weapon even in hand-to-hand, it was nothing compared to the tentacle. A blow form it sent one of the servitors flying into the wall. It wrapped around another and squeezed until it came apart, its body eaten through by whatever the tentacle was secreting. Another servitor came at him from the side. The marine dropped its bolter and grabbed it around the throat. The marine lifted the construct off of the ground and hurled it into another which was attempting to come up behind it. Theobald was beginning to think that the marine would deal with all the servitors by itself, when another figure emerged from the ship.

Another servitor, though it bore only a superficial to it comrades, emerged. It had a human head and torso as the others did. However; in the place of legs it had tracks and instead of arms it had a pair of heavy bolters. It trained these on the traitor marine and opened fire. Theobald expected that the tainted Astartes would be torn apart, but he was wrong. Displaying an agility which bordered on the graceful the marine leaped to the side and the explosive rounds sailed past it. The marine then bounded forward towards the servitor, as making sure to move in a seemingly random manner and usually managing to keep others between itself and the servitor. Ironically, this was what undid it. It had just taken refuge behind another servitor, which was riddled with bolter fire and was moving forward when it became clear that the servitor was not as dead as it first appeared. It swung out with a buzzing chainsword and caught the marine in the back of the knee. It roared in pain and rage and even as it fell to one knee it spun around and tore the servitor's head off with its tentacle.

Now that its movement was significantly reduced the gun servitor was able to lock onto the marine and fire. Multiple holes were torn in the marine's chest and one leg was practically torn off. Once again Theobald was sure that the creature was dead, surely there could be no way that anything could survive such wounds, even the toughest Orks had died after receiving such wounds. Then the tainted marine began to get up. It tore its bolter free and fired a burst into the servitor just as it fired again. They both had the same target and both their heads exploded simultaneously. The death of their leader caused the remaining cultists to lose heart and they turned and fled. Looking down Theobald saw that they had literally fled from victory. It appeared that all of the servitors that he could see had been destroyed and there was no sound to indicate that more were within the ship. After waiting for some time Theobald at last determined that it was safe to leave his hiding place.

Standing among the carnage Theobald was not sure what to do. If he went back the way that he had come he ran the risk of running into the cultists who fled and possibly more of them. If, on the other hand, he entered the ship then he risked meeting more servitors and he doubted that they would listen to any explanation from Theobald. At last he decided, he did not know if there were any more servitors inside the ship, but he knew that there were more cultists out there. He stepped toward the ship, while making sure to stay away from the marine's corpse as even dead it caused him unease. He headed through the hole and into the ship.

The inside was pitched black and he was forced to use his light again. Like the rest of the Hulk the corridors of the ship were twisted, broken and often as not were blocked off. It would appear that the ship had been heavily damaged when it struck the Hulk and was integrated into it. Fortunately it appeared that there were no more active servitors onboard. He found a number of broken remains as he made his way through the ship, both of servitors and tech-priests thought at times he had a hard time telling the difference, it looked as if the crew had suffered as poorly as the ship had during the crash.

As he made his way through the ship he found himself moving down a corridor to a part of the ship which seemed to have survived in better condition than the rest of the ship. The reason for this soon became clear as a closer examination showed that the ship's sides had been reinforced and he made his way through several heavy doors which looked as if they had been designed to withstand everything except what actually happened to them. Whatever had been on this ship was clearly of great value. His curiosity aroused Theobald continued making his way towards what he believed to be the center of the ship.

At last he reached what appeared to be a vault of some kind. The door was largely still intact, but had been forced open slightly, just enough for him to squeeze through. The inside of the vault was both a simple and an elaborate affair at the same time with a vaulted ceiling and the back wall dominated by a large symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The walls were all lined with censors, many of which had fallen to the floor spilling their contents of incense. In the center of the room was a plinth surrounded by candles. Nearby, lying on the ground was a casket which appeared to have fallen from the plinth. Theobald did not know what was inside, but was certain that it had to be important and picked it up and took it with him when he left the vault.

Having no other choice Theobald revered his rout, or at least he thought he did, it was so confusing that he could not be sure that he was indeed in the same places which he had been to before. He set off in the direction that he thought was the way to the outer hull of the ship and hoped for the best. He moved for some time, eventually giving up on trying to move in a straight line. He was so focused on trying to find a way off the Hulk that he wasn't listening for any of the inhabitants. So it was a complete surprise when he turned a corner and found himself facing another traitor marine on the other end of the hall, with more standing behind it.

Fortunately the tainted marines, Theobald was most disturbed to see that there was more than one of them, seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see them. Also, there was about thirty feet between them which allowed Theobald time to turn and run back the way that he had come just as bolter shells blasted into the place he had been a moment before. He ran down the corridor as fast as he could, the sound of the marines' boots drawing rapidly closer. Realizing that his light was giving him away Theobald tossed it down one passage while he ran down another. Almost instantly he was cursing himself as he began to stumble and trip over things in the dark. Worse, it did not appear to have had any effect on the chase, the traitors were still behind him. At first he was confused as to why they had not caught up to him, then he heard them laughing and he understood.

 _It's a game to them! Their hunting me for sport!_ The thought enraged him and gave him an additional burst of speed.

Turning another corner he saw that he was coming to another hole leading into a ship, not having anywhere else to go he ran through it. Making his way through the interior of the ship he suddenly came to a stop as he found himself looking out of a viewport onto a field of stars. He had made it! He had found his way to the outer hull of the Hulk! Now all that he had to do was find a savior pod and he was safe. Pounding footsteps behind him stole away his euphoria.

 _NO!_ He thought in what was half prayer and half curse.

 _NOT NOW! NOT WHEN I AM SO CLOSE!_

His anger now turning to fear he bolted. He had no idea what kind of ship this was so he had no idea where the savior pods were located, he would just have to run and hope that he found them before the traitors grew bored with the chase and bring it to an end.

Theobald was by nearing exhaustion and could not run much longer. Just as he had been reduced to a jerking jog when he saw what he was looking for: the hatches of savior pods. Most of them looked as if they had been launched, but several were still there. He rushed up to the first of these and pounded on the rune to open the pod. Nothing happened, he struck it again and again, still nothing and the sound of the traitors was getting closer. He abandoned the pod and ran to the other. He struck the rune and the hatch opened partially. In desperation Theobald grabbed it pulled with all of his might and managed to get it open wide enough for him to squeeze inside. Once there he had to pull it shut again. Just as he did so the savior pod rocked as something outside struck it. They had reached him.

He panicked and for a moment could not the rune to launch the pod, but as the pounding continued he at last found it and struck it. Once again nothing happened.

"NO!" He cried out, almost crying at the unfairness of it all. He struck it again and again as the pounding on the outside continued. Just as the sound of a chainblade being revved up was heard he hit the rune again and this time it worked. With a rumbling blast the savior shot out of its tube and into the void of space. Theobald began laughing and found that he could not stop doing so.

He was not sure how long he drifted in the pod before something struck the side of the pod and began to pull it. Theobald was unable to do anything and could only wait to see what would happen next. At last there was a clatter and banging as the pod settled onto something solid. Almost immediately the sound of a cutting torch was heard cutting the pod open. Theobald drew his laspistol and waited. The hatch fell away and Theobald found himself looking down the barrels of several heavy lasguns. Seeing that resistance would be futile and result in nothing but his death Theobald lowered his pistol and raised his hands. He was pulled from the pod and dragged down a corridor to a small and dimly lit room.

He was forced into a chair and binders built into the arms, legs and back of the chair were attached to Theobald's wrists, ankles and neck. Once this was done the armed men turned and left. For a moment Theobald thought that he was alone in the room, but when he stared into the gloom he could just make out a hunched figure, all of the individual's features were hidden by a heavy robe.

"Who are you?!" Theobald demanded. The figure made no reply, instead raising its head to stare directly at Theobald.

Theobald gasped in pain as it felt as if burning needles were being driven into his brain. At last he could stand it no longer and screamed in pain. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, the pain ceased. Theobald, who had been straining against the pain, fell back against the chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again he found that the room had changed. The lighting had been raised to normal levels and the hooded figure was gone and a man was in its place. The man was short with black hair and sallow skin. He was wearing heavy, fur-lined robes which looked as if they would be better suited for a feral world than a starship. Walked up to Theobald and unlocked the binders.

"Allow me to welcome you to the _Fires of Justice_ and please accept my apologies for the treatment Locus gave you." Theobald; however, was not in the mood to forgive so easily.

"Who the Warp are you and what right do you have to do…whatever it was you did to me?!" The man's expression became hard. He reached into his robes and brought out an icon in the form of a stylized I with a skull in the middle. Theobald's breath caught in his throat and he felt as if his insides turn to ice and he felt more fear than he had on the Hulk.

"Yes," the man said; "You know what this is. I am Inquisitor Ignota Vola of the Holy Inquisition and I have every right to do what I have done and more. I extend an apology out of curtesy, not because I owe one." Cowed Theobald nodded. The man's anger disappeared almost at once and he smiled.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, I do apologize for I had to treat you. However; considering you came from a Space Hulk, you can hardly be surprised. You will be happy to know that the mental scans reveal that you have not been tainted by your time on the _Eternal Agony._ " Seeing Theobald's confusion Vola elaborated.

"That is the name that we give to the Space Hulk you were on. As I said there was no taint detected, though some of my colleges would favor removing you anyway, just to be sure." At the uneasy expression which came to Theobald's face Vola laughed.

"Oh don't worry I know who you are and the Imperium can hardly afford to go around throwing away its Rogue Traders. Especially ones which are already proving to be of value." Again Theobald was not sure what he was talking about, but this time Vola did not answer. Instead he produced the reliquary which Theobald had brought from the hulk.

Either he or someone in his employ had undid the locks on it and the inquisitor was able to open it and reveal what was inside. It was an oblong object slightly smaller than the reliquary that had contained it. Theobald had no idea what it was, but it looked old, possibly some form of archeotech. Vola pushed a button and a hologram of a series pipes appeared. Theobald had seen holograms, but none as sharp as this one.

"Do you know what this is?" Vola asked.

"Some form of archeotech?" Theobald hazard.

"Indeed, but not just any archeotech. This is the rarest type of all: a Standard Construction Template." Theobald's jaw nearly fell off.

A SCT! The rarest and some said the most holy of the relics of the Omnissiah! Vola continued speaking.

"Yes, a SCT. Unfortunately it appears to be one for irrigation systems, valuable I suppose, but it's no Imperator-class Titan. I could turn it over the Adeptus Mechanicus myself. It would certainly give me an edge the next time that I have to deal with them, but I think not." With that he placed it back in the reliquary and handed it to Theobald.

"Thank you." Theobald said. Vola made a dismissive wave of his hand.

"It isn't kindness believe me. This will grant you wealth that _even many long established Rogue Trader dynasties would even. This, plus your life, mean one thing: you owe me and trust me when I say that I will collect._

 _"The scan showed that you are a clever and resourceful individual and I shall have uses for one such as you. In fact, you can start repaying it immediately. I have a task for you. In the nearby Tellus System there is a large asteroid field which is currently home to a collection of pirates. The local Defense Fleet has proven to be unable to deal with the issue and navel assets are otherwise engaged so I want you to deal with them."_

 _"That may be a problem, seeing as I have no ship." Theobald said rather dryly._

 _"That shall not be a problem. I have a number of ships at my disposal which I collected when I thought that I would have to deal with the problem myself, including the_ _Sword of Vengeance_ , a Tempest-class Strike Frigate. Deal with the pirates and consider it and its crew to be payment for your services. Am I clear?" Theobald nodded.

"Exhalent," from within his robes he produced a hip flask and drank.

"To our wonderful new partnership."

 **Author's Notes: So what did you think? I hope you liked it. What did you think of Vola? Don't worry, I do not intend to have Theobald be his errand boy, indeed, it will be more of a partnership**. **Let us say that Vola is slightly…radical and will have need of someone like Theobald. It is just his nature to act that way. Is there any Inquisitor who isn't a control freak? What do you think he should get for the SCT? I know some have been given planets for finding them, cool or too much? Let me know what you think in the comments. Please pray for all who need it. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes: Hello everyone, I hope you liked the last chapter. I just want to make a quick correction. I wrote SCT when I should have written STC. Several people pointed this out to me and I would like to thank all of you for that. Just rewrite that in you minds and we'll just move on, thanks. As always I own nothing.**

Theobald sat in his command throne aboard the _Sword of Vengeance_ as it made the transition from the Warp into the Tellus System, with the asteroid field which the pirates were believed to be hiding between them and the planet itself. Looking through the viewport all that Theobald could see was a mass of floating rocks of varying sizes. Theobald turned from the view to address the vox connected to the Navigator in his chambers.

"Master Navigator, are we within in the jump parameters, or have we drifted?"

+Of course we are+ snapped a voice which was both mechanical and arrogant at the same time.

+We appear to have arrived within eighty-seven percent of my calculation. We are outside of the field as you requested and according to the chronometer we have arrived one and a half days prior to the estimated arrival time. Now, do you have any other stupid questions to pester me with?+ Theobald gritted his teeth, but forced himself to give a civil reply.

"No, Master Navigator. I thank you for your skills." He cut the link before the navigator could say anything else. He then turned to address the officer manning the helm.

"Mr. Perza, take us into the field." As the man nodded Theobald turned to address the Enginseer on the command deck.

"Enginseer Catillo, reduce our power output as much as possible, I do not want the enemy detecting us." Catillo nodded.

"I shall entreat the spirits of the ship to silence, though such actions are contrary to their nature."

"I understand Enginseer, but it is necessary if we are to take the enemy unaware. Be sure to inform the spirits of the ship of glorious battle that is to come."

"I shall Lord Captain." Satisfied Theobald turned to the officer manning the auger station.

"Mr. Atmore, passive sweeps only. I do not want the augers' questing spirits to alert the enemy of our presence." The man in question nodded.

"It shall be done my lord." After that there was nothing more to be said.

They sat in darkness, the lights having been significantly dimmed due to the power being lowered, for some time as they waited. It would not have mattered if they had spoken at the top of their voices yet somehow the environment seemed to encourage the silence. The silence was so pervasive that when Atmore suddenly broke the silence it almost made Theobald jump from his throne.

"Ship detected."

"Identity?" Theobald asked.

"Hard to tell with only passive scans, but I believe it to be the _Endeavor,_ a cargo ship which makes fairly regular runs through here." Theobald nodded and settled back in his throne. He had just done so when Atmore spoke again, this time in a loud and excited voice.

"Captain! I have four ships emerging from the asteroid field! Their heading straight for the _Endeavor_!" Theobald sprang into action.

"Helm take us in!

"Atmore! Give me active sensors! They'll have eyes only for their prey and I want to know what we are dealing with!

"Catillo! Be ready to give me full power when I call for it!" He then turned to the gunnery officer.

"Mr. Gorgo! I want all weapons ready to fire on my mark!" The man nodded his acknowledgement.

"Aye Captain!"

"Captain!" Atmore called out.

"I conducted a more detailed scan of the situation! The ship being attacked is indeed the _Endeavor_. The attackers are all the same class: Havoc-class Merchant Raiders." From his station Gorgo gave a snort.

"Havocs! Glorified coffins if you ask me! We can take them with no difficulty."

"Caution is advised," Catillo interjected; "While _Sword of Vengeance_ is indeed superior to its opponents we are outnumbered four to one. It would be unwise to blindly assume that victory will be so easily attained." Theobald nodded and then turned to address his officers.

"Gorgo, when we get within range fire on the nearest enemy vessel with the laser macro turrets. Fire the dorsal-mounted ones first, wait three seconds and then fire the prow-mounted one.

"Perza, once we take out the first ship take us back into the asteroid field. Place us behind one of the larger asteroids. Place us close enough to it that it will hide us from their sensors." Both men signaled their understanding and set to their tasks. Just then Atmore spoke up again.

"We are almost as close as we can get without being detected. Fortunately it appears that they are all concentrating on their target and have not seen us yet." Theobald did not acknowledge him directly, but he did act on the information.

"Take us in!" He called.

Lights blazed to full brightness as power was brought back. The engines roared to life and Theobald was prepared to swear that he felt the ship shake beneath him as it accelerated. His adrenaline surged at the prospect of combat and this, combined with the speed of the ship as it rushed from the asteroid field, made him feel as if he was riding on a massive hunting beast as it closed on his prey. He forced himself to calm down and regain control of himself. One of the first things that he had learned fighting Orks was that if one wanted to survive one did not give in to one's emotions. He knew this and yet he still found it difficult to do.

This was especially true when they bore down on the Havocs and opened fire. Due to the relatively short range of the ship's weapons they had to get close. So close in fact that Theobald could see the impact. The ship exploded and it seemed as if a second star was born as the ship's reactor detonated. Heeding the shouted warning from Gorgo Theobald closed his eyes and looked away. Even so he could see the light against his closed eyelids.

"My lord! The remaining three ships are turning towards us!" Theobald turned to the hem officer.

"Perza!" The man did not respond verbally, but Theobald felt the ship turn and heard the rumble of ship's engines as it shot back towards the asteroid field. The enemy fired several times, but none of them connected. Catillo speculated that their proximity to the fiery death of their comrade had effected their targeting arrays.

Once inside the field they had to reduce their speed and take a zigzagging pattern to avoid striking or being struck by any of the asteroids that sailed by them. In addition to the risk of collision the asteroids also made it difficult for the augers to detect anything other than the floating rocks. At first Theobald saw this as a hindrance, but as he stared at them through the viewport he saw a way in which they could be used to his advantage. He looked around until he spotted what he was looking and then turned to address Perza.

"Mr. Perza, take us up to the top of that asteroid on our starboard side. Once there be sure to keep close enough to it that the Havocs cannot detect us." The helmsman instantly obeyed and the ship began to ascend to the top of the asteroid, forcing everyone back into their seats.

Once at the top asteroid Theobald had them move slightly down the other side in order to keep the asteroid between them and the most likely rout of the Havocs. They were not there long before Atmore signaled for Catillo to join him at his station. They poured over the auger readings briefly and then seemed to come to a conclusion. The techpriest turned to address Theobald.

"My lord the augers are detecting energy readings which we believe to be one of the enemy ships. Unfortunately we cannot be sure as the asteroids are interfering with the augers' questing spirits." Theobald nodded and turned to Perza.

"Helm, on my mark take us down. We'll fall on them like a bird of prey." Perza grinned in feral manner.

"Aye my lord." Theobald turned to Catillo and when the enginseer nodded he turned back to the helm officer.

"Mark!" The ship shot back over the top of asteroid and then down the other side.

This time they were close enough to their target. The Havoc was almost directly below them, clearly searching for them. It must have detected the _Sword of Vengeance_ because it began to move to the side in an effort to get out of the way, but it was far too late. The las-turrets fired again and the ship was torn to pieces. This time they were even closer to the blast and despite again closing his eyes Theobald cried out in pain and he was not the only one. Just then the ship rocked and several people were thrown to the deck. At first Theobald thought that it might be the shockwave from the Havoc's death, but then they were struck again.

"What in the Warp was that?!" Theobald demanded of the bridge as a whole.

"It would appear that the other Havocs were trailing the one that we just destroyed and we sailed right into their fire." Catillo stated, his voice infuriatingly calm.

"Mr. Gorgo! Return fire!" As the man rushed to obey Theobald looked to the engineseer.

"Engineseer! Damage report!"

"We received multiple hits from the remaining pirates' prow-mounted weapons. They stripped away our void shields, but fortunately they did little damage to the ship itself. There were three minor hull breaches, but the affected areas have already been sealed off."

"Casualties?"

"According to the death counter there were two hundred and twenty-six deaths. These number are no of sufficient quantity to impact our current mission and they are all likely to be lower deck crew, unskilled and easily replaced." His words caused Theobald to experience a feeling of disgust, but at the moment he had to focus on surviving the battle.

"Mr. Gorgo, Did we hit anything?"

"Negative my lord. I did not have time to get a proper firing solution."

"Then line us up for a proper broadside." Theobald commanded." Gorgo looked unsure.

"That would be unwise my lord. It would expose the ship's flank to both enemy ships. That could result in significant damage to our ship, if not its outright destruction. Until we are in positon to fire we should keep our prow facing them, it will shrug off anything that they can throw at us." Theobald nodded his acknowledgment and turned to Perza.

"Helm, turn us to face the enemy, sail right between them.

"Mr. Gorgo, as we pass between them give them each a broadside."

The ship responded the commands from the helm and turned to face the enemy. They were struck several more times, but they finally leveled their hull with the enemy ships. Several shots struck the prow as it rose into position; however, the hull held, just as Gorgo had said that it would. The enemy must have seen that continual firing at the prow was useless and they broke off their assault. To Theobald's dismay the enemy ships parted, one ascending while the other descended.

Theobald cursed. This was the worst thing that that could have done. If the _Sword of Vengeance_ ascended after the rising target then their underbelly would be exposed to the one below. If they descended then the one above them would swoop down in a manner similar to what they had done themselves. While Catillo informed him that the voids shields would be brought back shortly Theobald was not certain that they would be able to hold off an attack. If they moved forward or backward to gain a better position then their engines would be open to attack. But a decision had to be made and as captain it was up to Theobald to make it, after a moment he did.

"Helm set in a pursuit course for the ascending ship."

"That will expose us to the fire of the other ship." Someone pointed out.

"I know," Theobald thought for a moment and then returned his gaze to Perza.

"Mr. Perza, point us towards the descending ship long enough for Mr. Gorgo to fire one volley with the las-turrets and then resume pursuit of the ascending vessel." The ship dipped down and again the las-turrets fired. Almost immediately afterwards the ship jerked up to resume its pursuit of the other ship.

"Did we hit it?!" Theobald demanded.

"We clipped it." Gorgo responded.

"It's damaged and is losing speed."

"Will they be able to effect repairs?"

"Unknown," Catillo responded; "We did not have time to take a detailed scan. It also depends on the quality of their techpriests, assuming they have any."

"We are not going to give them the opportunity." Theobald announced as he touched a rune on his command throne.

"This is the bridge. Prepare to launch the assault craft to the secure the damaged enemy ship. Kill all who resist and confine those who surrender." He released the rune and turned to Catillo.

"Engineseer, I want you to accompany the boarding party. I want to know where they are operating from and I will need you to interrogate their navigation cogitators for that data." Catillo looked unhappy, but said nothing and left and Theobald returned his attention to the pursuit of the remaining pirate ship.

They rose up towards the enemy, which had a lead, but was clearly slower than the Tempest and the distance closed. As soon as they were in range Gorgo fired the las weapons, but the ship dodged to the side, skimming along one of the asteroids as the beams shot past them. They readjusted their positon and fired again and again the pirate ship heaved to the side and the shots went wide. The luck of the Havoc finally failed and it pilot mistimed a course change. An asteroid struck on its starboard side. The ship's side buckled and it was knocked to the side and was spinning through the asteroid field, clearly out of control. The inevitable happened and the ship struck another of the larger asteroids and detonated. Fortunately this time Theobald was able to cover his eyes in time and avoid any ill-effects. For a moment there was silence on the bridge. Then Theobald broke the silence.

"Well, that takes care of that."

"So it would appear my lord." Perza replied. Theobald sank back into his throne as he felt the adrenaline from the battle bleed away. He wanted to just sit there and maybe have a drink, but there were still things which needed to be done. He turned to Durhan Laski, the vox officer who had till now remained silent.

"Mr. Laski, can you make contact with the boarding party?" The man turned to his station and after a minute or so turned back to Theobald.

"Contact established with the assault force. They report that they have taken control of the ship. The pirates offered minimal resistance and all that that offered any resistance were quickly dealt with.

"Engineseer reports that he has interrogated the ship's cogitator and I may say he has some rather scathing remarks as to their defense protocols and he claims that he has obtained the coordinates to where they have been operating from. It appears to be an asteroid further in, he is sending us the coordinates now."

"Very well, recall the boarding force, leave just enough to keep the prisoners under control. We will head for the base as soon as they are aboard."

The base was located inside a hollowed out asteroid. Catillo, who returned to the ship with the majority of the boarding party, suspected that it had once been part of a mining operation which was halted after it proved to be unprofitable. Atmore was certain that they had been detected, but they had not been fired on. It appeared that the pirates had counted on not being discovered rather than being able to fight off anyone who might find them. They refused calls to surrender and thus it was necessary to launch an assault on the base. Theobald, against the advice of the bridge officers, declared that he would be accompanying the assault.

The shark assault boat was crowded with the troops who would be taking part in the assault. Theobald was not entirely sure who they were, as they had been present when he was given command of the _Sword of Vengeance,_ but they appeared professional and had taken the other ship with little difficulty. Just then the overhead vox speaker crackled to life and the piolet addressed them.

"We land in thirty seconds. The Emperor protects."

Feeling the familiar mixture of fear and excitement which he always felt before battle came over him and his breathing became rapid and shallow. He fidgeted in his seat in an effort to get comfortable in his unfamiliar armored spacesuit and checked the charge in his laspistol. He had wanted to be the first on out of the craft, but Dargus, the commander of the boarding party, had forbidden that and had insisted that Theobald be at least halfway back. Theobald was certain that Dargus would have preferred that Theobald remain on the ship, but Theobald had wanted to come and there was nothing that Dargus could do about it. With a thump the ship landed in a shuttle bay that the ship had blasted open. The assault boat's hatch opened and Dargus's voice came over the suits' vox links.

"GO! GO! GO!"

The assault troops poured out of the assault boats, fanning out as the exited to cover any avenue of approach, their movements only slightly hampered by their magnetic boots. Theobald, wearing them for the first time, was not as efficient and his efforts were slow and somewhat clumsy. Fortunately the enemy made no appearance and Theobald and the others were able to make their way into the interior of the base, where the air was breathable and where there was mostly normal gravity. The interior was a maze of corridors, tunnels and walkways, in many ways it was like being back on Haven and it was this similarity that allowed Theobald to detect the ambush just before it was sprung.

"INCOMING!" He yelled as he dove for cover. The troopers did not question, they merely reacted by also seeking cover.

The pirates stuck moments later. Some fired down from walkways and others came out from tunnels and passageways. They lacked uniformity in both clothing and weaponry with some sporting armor and las weapons while others had autoguns and regular clothing. Whatever else they lacked in uniformity they made up for in ferocity. They poured an impressive amount of firepower upon the attackers. They even threw several grenades and a number of attackers fell. The pirates were not having it all their own way though, far from it. The attackers were better armed than many of the pirates and their armored spacesuits provided a certain amount of protection. But it appeared that the pirates had numbers. The attackers numbered less than three hundred and while Theobald was not sure how many pirates there were, but it looked as if they outnumbered Theobald and his men.

Looking closer at the pirates Theobald saw the fear in the eyes of many, it appeared that they had never intended to have to defend their base from an attack and the necessity of doing so had rattled them. Indeed it seemed as if they were on the verge of breaking and if they did it would be all over. Focusing Theobald heard a voice from amongst the pirates bellowing threats and orders. Taking quick looks between shooting and being shot at Theobald located the source of the voice. The owner was a large man, easily a head and shoulders taller than Theobald and far heavier, both muscle and fat. He wore bright red pants tucked into tall, black boots. He wore a gold overcoat and an azure sash, on which hung a scabbard. The man had a ruddy complexion and a great bushy beard and long hair covered by a tricorn hat. In his hand was an ignited power saber. Theobald saw at once that he was the leader and if he fell the others might break.

Before Dargus could stop him, or his own nerve could fail him, Theobald stepped out and pointed at the pirate leader with his finger in a clear challenge. The pirate saw this and with a roar charged at Theobald, sword raised. As soon as he broke cover Theobald raised his laspistol and shot the man three times in the head. As the body fell to the deck the firing on both sides seemed to pause and Theobald took the opportunity. Standing in full view of the pirates He began to shout at the top of his lungs.

"ENOUGH! This battle is pointless! Your base is falling, your leader is dead and your ships are destroyed or taken! Even if you drive us away now that your base location is known it is only a matter of time till a larger fleet comes and destroys this place." He paused and pointed a finger at his chest.

"I am Theobald Traub and I hold a Warrant of Trade. That means your lives are in my hands. Surrender to me and I promise that you will receive better treatment than you will otherwise receive." There was a moment of silence and then the pirates began to lower their weapons.

Events moved in a blur afterwards. The pirates, several hundred of them were rounded up and they and their ship were transported back to the planet Tellus. There he found that Inquisitor Vola and the rest of his fleet had already arrived. What followed had been a rather, from Theobald's position, an uncomfortable, meeting.

"Well, it seems that I was correct about you." Vola said as he poured them both a drink.

"You performed it in an exemplary manner. You destroyed or captured all their ships and even took a number of prisoners." He paused, as if embarrassed and then continued.

"However; I fear that I shall have to take _Sword of Vengeance_ back, along with its crew."

"What?!" Theobald yelped, forgetting in his surprise and anger who he was talking to.

"I only leant the ship to you and now I need it back and as a ship is not of much good without a crew I shall need them as well." Theobald threw up his hands in disgust.

"So I am right back where you found me!" Vola smiled indulgently.

"Now, I didn't say that. In fact when I came here I brought someone along who wished to speak with you on that matter. As for a crew, well you do have several hundred pirates as your prisoners, I'll need a few of them as well, but you can keep the rest of them. They should be at least a little grateful for that. As for the rest of the crew…well Tellus is a transit world there are a number of crew looking for a new ship. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to go to and so do you." With that he Vola rose and departed. No sooner had he gone than someone else entered the room.

Theobald had never seen him before, but he saw right away that the man, if it was a man, was a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the individual was so heavily modified that gender was impossible to tell. S/he entered the room without waiting for permission and approached Theobald.

"You are the Rogue Trader Theobald Traub who recently recovered the Standard Template Construction." Theobald was not sure if the being was asking a question or stating a fact and so he merely nodded. Apparently satisfied with this reply the being continued speaking.

"My superior Samarase Borr, Fabricator-General of the nearby Forge World Tarkan VII received the blessed gift of the Omnissiah. As a reward for your recovery of this holy object the Fabricator-General has decided to bestow upon you the Dauntless-class Light Cruiser which has recently been constructed. The ship was commissioned by another Rogue Trader; however, the individual recently behaved in a manner which the Fabricator-General found to be disrespectful and has decided to grant the ship to you instead.

"He wishes you to understand," The representative said hastily; "That this is no way intended to be seen as petty or spiteful. The Fabricator-General merely wishes it to be remembered that the servants of the Omnissiah cannot be treated without the respect due to them." Theobald thought that it sounded rather petty to him, but he was not about to say anything critical of an individual about to give him a free ship. So instead he expressed his excessive gratitude for the generosity of the Adeptus Mechanicus. So now he had a ship all he needed was a crew.

Fortunately, that too proved to be not an impossible task. As Vola had said there was not much difficulty finding crew. The governor of Tellus was eager to be of help. This help took the form of him giving Theobald the pick of the planet's prisons. While this provided plenty of bodies for the lower decks it did little to provide officers, None-Commissioned officers and Able Voidsmen. The pirates that he had captured and who had pledged loyalty to Theobald. While he needed them and their skills Theobald was still reluctant to trust them over-much and there was simply not enough of them even if he did trust them. A solution to this problem presented itself from an unusual source, his new navigator.

When Theobald had taken the pirate base he had also seized the loot that they had collected. As it would be impossible to know where it had all come from and many of the owners were dead he had claimed it and sold much of it, including the captured Havoc which he sold to the Tellus Defense Fleet. Most of the money which he acquired had gone to supplying his new ship and acquiring the service of an astropathic choir. Fortunately several houses of the Navis Nobilite had branches present on Tellus from which he could seek a Navigator. Theobald had not been sure as to the best way to approach these and petition them for their aid when, to his surprise one of them sought him out instead. A servant in a gaudy outfit of purple and green had approached him with a message that the representative of House Neall wished to speak with him.

The estate to which the servant had taken him was large and yet with an air of neglect about it, with surprisingly few people about and things appeared worn and dirty. He had been ushered into room which was dominated by a large elaborate couch upon which sat the first Navigator Theobald had ever seen. The man looked human, though a closer look reveled slight differences. He was taller than normal and his hands, face and feet were longer than normal as well. Theobald tried his best not to look the bandana which covered the Navigator's forehead and his third eye. The Navigator skipped all the normal pleasantries, including the offering of any refreshment and got right to the point of the meeting.

"I am Jovian Neall and you are in need of a Navigator for your ship and lack resources and prestige to approach many of the other houses and so I have decided to take up the positon myself." Theobald was taken aback by this statement. He had heard that Navigators were notoriously arrogant and want to do as they would regardless of others. Still, he had need of a Navigator and here appeared one more than willing to fulfil the role. However; he felt he owed it to the Navigator to tell the truth.

"You honor me Master Neall, but truth to tell, I do not know when we will be departing as I have been having some difficulty raising a skilled crew." Neall made a dismissive gesture.

"I do indeed do you a great honor and you need not concern yourself with the crew, I have already taken care of it. You will soon have the crew that you shall need. I should be surprised if you have to wait more than a day or two to fill all of your berths." Theobald stared at him dumbfounded.

"How did you manage that?"

"Oh," Neall said airily; "I may have started the rumor that a Navy taskforce may be soon passing through. You may not have the authority to press-gang new crewmembers, but I can assure that the Navy does. I think you shall find that many are more willing to risk their lives on a Rogue Trader ship than on a Navy ship.

"Now if you excuse me, I have much to do to prepare and I am sure you do as well. Inform me when you are ready to depart and I shall join you. Good day." Theobald left, not entirely sure who was going to be giving orders to who once they departed. Regardless, Neall's words proved to be prophetic and before long Theobald was flooded with ship crew of all ranks seeking employment. Not knowing skilled from unskilled Theobald was forced to rely on the factotum that Neall sent to aid him in the selection. Though he said nothing Theobald found it both an annoyance and a matter of some concern that he had to rely on others for all of his personal. He resolve to alter that as soon as possible.

Before they departed Theobald found himself once again entertaining unanticipated guests. He had been in his rooms in a rented villa when it was announced that he had visitors. When they entered Theobald rose when he saw that they were members of the Ecclesiarchy. The leader of the group was an older man more elaborately dressed than the others. Theobald bowed and the man nodded his acceptance and began to speak.

"Greetings Theobald Traub. I am Deacon Cedrick Muggley. I am aware that you shall be departing this world soon be departing and there is a boon that we would request of you." Remembering Cardinal Kant and his subsequent "generosity" did not do much to make Theobald feel charitably inclined towards the Ecclesiarchy. However; the Ecclesiarchy was not an organization which even a Rogue Trader could easily say no to, not if he ever wanted to return to the Imperium. So he bowed again.

"Any aid that I can render I will be more than happy to do so." Muggley smiled in a beneficent manner.

"Exhalent. While going over old records one of our scribes came across reports a system beyond the edge of the Ultima Segmentum which contains people lost to the Emperor's light. This is unacceptable and it has been determined that a representative of the Missionarus Galaxia shall be dispatched to correct this. We wish you to take him and his entourage to this world. I can assure you that the Ecclesiarchy will not forget this act of piety."

Thus at last Theobald found himself on the bridge of his ship, which he had named _Adventurer,_ a name which the techpriests assured him would please the Machine Spirit of the ship. Neall was in the Navigator Spire and signaled himself ready to enter the Warp. Theobald turned to the helmsman, one of the pirates which Theobald had taken into his service.

"Mr. Mendrala. Take us out." As the ship moved towards the jump point Theobald smiled. The adventure was at last truly beginning.

 **Author's Notes: I hoped you liked it. What did you think of his scene with the pirate? I will admit I got that from the Indiana Jones movies. This was my first space battle and I would like to both thank** CALiGeR190 **for assisting me and recommend viewing their channel. It seemed that I would never get to the end of this chapter as I kept needing to add to it to explain and set up for what's to come next. It may be awhile till the next chapter as I have other stories to update so please be patient. In the next chapter he will begin to gather his close circle of followers. Please pray for the victims of the Texas shooting, an American pastor held in Turkey and all who need it. Bye and may Jesus bless you**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad that you liked the last chapter and I hope that you like this one. As always I own nothing.**

The _Adventurer_ _made its way through the Warp on its way to the Ultima Segmentum. Though he was still new to Warp travel it seemed that Neall was at least half as good a Navigator as he claimed to be. Even so they had a long way to travel and it was frequently necessary to exit the Warp to make required course changes. Theobald took advantage of the time to acquaint himself with the members of his crew and the passengers who he was charged with transporting._

 _As he had expected Neall could indeed be difficult. The Navigator had arrived shortly before departure with such a host of guards, servants and other attendants that Theobald was not sure that they would all fit into the Navigator's quarters, though these were among the largest on the ship, though they somehow had. The Navigator continued to be as arrogant as when they had first met, but as time when on Theobald came to tolerate and even enjoy it, Neall reminded Theobald of a caricature of some of the pompous characters portrayed in the productions they sometimes saw._

 _Far easier to get along with was Uriah Carilli, chief of the astropaths. He was an older man, at least he seemed so. He actually was still in his middle years, but his calling was a harsh one. Despite this he was surprisingly cheerful though he was, as many of his calling were, inclined to be vague and speak in metaphors. Fortunately, due to his dealings with the astropaths during the war on Haven, Theobald was used to such things and was able to quickly establish a working relationship with the astropath._

 _Before the ship had departed a techpriest identifying himself as Magos Minucci, along with a staff of lower-ranking techpriests and servitors, had joined them as well. Minucci informed Theobald that they had been assigned to tend to the_ _Adventurer's_ _body and spirit. Theobald suspected that there was more to it than that, a suspicion which Minucci confirmed personally. Minucci informed Theobald that he was an Explorator, charged by the Adeptus Mechanicus to travel into the unknown and seek out knowledge lost since before the rise of the Imperium. As Theobald had already located a piece of archotech and was in a position to locate more Minucci's superiors had decided to have him accompany Theobald and ensure that anything that he found was known to the Adeptus Mechanicus._

 _Theobald had made a point to pay a curtesy visit on Ishmael Freeley, the Imperial_ Missionary who Theobald had been asked to take to the supposed lost world. He was not sure what to expect when he went to speak to the man; he supposed that the man would be like the ones portrayed in devotional tracts: Tall muscular men, with wild full beards and piercing eyes that could look into a man's soul and see all the sins hiding therein. The reality proved to be somewhat less imposing. Freeley was a slightly short man, clean-shaven and balding. The eyes did not burn Theobald's soul, but they did have an intensity to them.

He was not a wild fanatic, as Theobald half expected him to be, instead he was a rather quiet man. Despite this there was an air of quiet faith and determination about him, qualities which Preacher Pilzer had never seemed to have had. Freely may not be the kind of man who would bellow and bluster, but he was the kind of man who would hold to his faith and not give up, no matter what trials and tribulations he might encounter.

Freely was not alone, he had a whole collection of followers, primarily scribes and scholars; though he was also accompanied by Sister Larae Cosano of the Orders Dialogous. Freely explained that if the world that they were seeking was indeed there it would be unlikely that they still spoke Gothic. Instead Sister Cosano would study their language and enable Freeley to communicate with the natives.

"Well, I wish you success Father." Theobald told him. Freeley thanked him and bestowed a blessing on him. As Theobald left him he sent a silent, possibly sacrilegious, prayer that this voyage would be as profitable as it was pious. He had sunk most of his money into this venture and if it failed to yield a profit then he did not know what he was going to do.

The final significant person on board, another last-minute addition forced on Theobald, was an unwelcome one: Adept Iktimedes Kydexus of the Adeptus Administratum. It was the role of Kydexus and his staff to catalog all the worlds they encountered and once the worlds in question had been brought back into the Imperial fold to organize a planetary government and begin establishing a suitable tithe for the worlds. It appeared that Theobald did not have as much free reign in the unknown space as he had thought. He was free to claim any world for his own that he wished, but Hydexus and his people were to ensure that they were organized in such a manner as to be in line with the Imperium and that all tithes were paid.

In addition to this unwelcomed news, Theobald did not like Kydexus as a person either. It was not that the man went out of his way to be unpleasant, it was just his personality. He was officious to the point of prissiness. He was also very aware of his position and the power that it gave him. He seemed to be convinced that Theobald and Rogue Traders as a whole were out to set up independent kingdoms of their own and split from the Imperium, launching the greatest cataclysm since the Heresy and he was the only one working to prevent that from happening. This attitude colored all of his dealing with Theobald and every meeting ended with Theobald struggling to control his temper with the officious little toad.

The voyage went remarkably smoothly, a fact which Freeley interpreted as a sign of the God-Emperor's favor regarding their venture. Neall was also pleased. He informed Theobald that the ship's spirit was being unusually cooperative, he believed that this was due to the ship being eager to travel to places where none of its kind had been for millennium. Minucci concurred as neither he nor his people had encountered any of the difficulties usually associated with light cruisers of greater age.

Theobald was awoken by a chiming in his quarters. For a moment he thought that he was back on Haven and then Mr. Mendrala contacted him.

"My lord?"

"Yes?" Theobald said, yawning and only half awake.

"The Navigator wished me to inform you that we are approaching the edge of his charts. We will have to drop out of Warp and calculate a new course. He thought that you might with to be on the bridge when we cross into unknown space." Theobald assented, hastily dressed and headed for the bridge.

By the time he reached it the ship had transitioned from the Warp and unfamiliar stars burned ahead of them. For a moment Theobald felt a little disappointed, he was on the edge of the Imperium, on the very brink of known space. He had thought that it would be different somehow than the stars which he had seen whenever the _Adventurer_ had been required to leave the Warp for a course correction. But the more he stared at it, the more excited he became. The stars may look the same, but they were unknown stars, stars which humanity had not crossed since a time before the founding of the Imperium. They seemed to call to him, promising him treasurers and adventures the like of which he could never imagine. He found himself eager to set off and chaffed at any delay.

Such delays; however, were not entirely avoidable. Freeley also arrived on a bridge and insisted on leading the bridge crew and the ship as a whole through the ship's vox-casters on a long prayer thanking the Emperor for bringing them thus far and beseeching him to continue to grant them protection and success. Theobald reigned his impatience and joined in, especially the part about success. At last the prayer ended and then another delay came from Neall.

+My charts do not cover this area, I will take a little time to calculate the jump. It would also be wise to have our jumps from here on out be shorter in length my lord.+ This was not what Theobald wanted to hear, but he decided to yield to the Navigator's greater wisdom and experience in such matters.

"Very well." He said simply. He wanted to pace while Neall made his calculations. Thinking that this would give the message to the crew that he was unable to control himself Theobald sat in his command throne and forced himself to sit there in what he hoped was a dignified manner. He stared at the closed shutters which covered all viewports during Warp jumps. Freeley resumed broadcasting his prayers throughout the ship, the relative nearness of their goal giving him a renewed sense of urgency.

Some hours later, or at least according to the chronometer on the throne said it had been hours, the ship left the Warp. As the shutters opened up Theobald found himself looking out on a new field of stars. They were now truly outside of the Imperium! As the thought struck him for the first time he felt his breath catch in his throat and feeling of tense excitement grew in his gut. He was beyond the Imperium and now had no master but the Emperor himself! It was a heady feeling and Theobald found that he had an urge to giggle. To regain control himself before he made a fool of himself Theobald activated the vox to contact Neall.

"Master Navigator, was the jump successful?"

+Of course it was successful. We are alive aren't we+

+However; it would appear that we experienced some drift. The distance from the sacred Astronomican makes plotting a course more difficult than it usually is. It would appear that we have drifted somewhat+ At those words Theobald felt a stab of fear.

Where were they? Were they lost? Could they get back? All these worries and more flashed through his mind in seconds. He took a deep breath and forced his heartrate to slow down and made sure his voice was calm before he spoke again.

"How great was the drift?"

+Fortunately not far+ Neall replied, instantly causing Theobald to relax.

+I believe that the drift took us into the system bordering the one which we were aiming for+ Well, that wasn't so bad Theobald thought.

"How long were we in the Warp?"

+By my measurements we have been in the Warp for approximately three weeks in normal time+

Three weeks! It had only seemed like hours, but he had been taught that time in the Warp and the material universe flowed differently and it wasn't as if it were a large space of time. He had read that some ships had vanished in the Warp for years, or even centuries. Determined to make the most of this unplanned for event he turned to the man operating the auger array.

"Mr. Comeauy, scan the system and give us a report." The man turned to his instruments and began to read the information which they presented. Theobald found himself tapping his foot and forced himself to stop it. At last Comeauy looked up and gave his report.

"The preliminary scan shows three planets my lord orbiting the system's star. Two of them are gas giants, while the third appears to be capable of sustaining human life. An asteroid field encompasses the edge of the system. It would take a longer and more detailed scan to generate a more detailed report." Theobald nodded and turned to address Mendrala.

"Mr. Mendrala, take us towards the third planet. Be sure to keep us far enough out that we cannot be seen by any augers which they might have." He then turned to activate the vox to the engine deck.

"Magos, please launch survey drones to scan both the planet and the asteroid field. I do not want any surprises." As he said that his mind went back to the last asteroid field that he had seen and the pirates which lurked within it.

+It shall be done by the will of the Omnissiah+ Theobald shut down the link and sat back in his throne.

He watched as the probes were launched and made their way towards their objectives. Knowing that it would be some time before they received any data returns Theobald forced an expression of disinterest onto his face. Inside; however, was another matter. He was almost giddy with excitement. A world fit for human habitation! He could hardly believe his luck. From his studies he knew that worlds that could sustain life were far outnumbered by those which could not. If the probes confirmed that the world could indeed support life then his fortune, at least for a while, was made. If the world was empty he could claim it and if a successful colonization effort was made then he could end up lord of the colony. If, on the other hand, there was indeed a civilization then he would be seen as a hero for bringing it back into the fold of the Imperium and would hopefully be able to obtain lucrative trade agreements. Either way he would be pleased.

His discovery aboard the Space Hulk had obtained a ship for him; however, he knew that he could not count on that happening again and again. No, he had learned during his time as a clerk back on Haven that tradeable items, such as food or other raw materials, which were always in demand could be of more value. They not be as flashy or as likely to result in immediate wealth, but they were stable and prove to be of more value in the long run. Yes, it seemed as if he was set either way. His thoughts were interrupted by a startled cry from the auger array.

"Mr. Comeauy! Report!" The man turned to address Theobald.

"Forgive me my lord, I was startled."

"By what?" Theobald demand, slightly annoyed at the man for startling him, as he had half thought that they were about to be attack. Comeauy seemed to have sensed Theobald's emotions as he continued hastily on.

"I was just reviewing the data from the drones the magos sent to the planet. While the report is far from complete there is enough that I can compare it to the data that we were provided by the Ecclesiarchy. My lord, I believe that this is the planet that we were sent to find."

"Praise be to the Emperor and Saint Quivvar Nog of Fedrid!" Freeley exclaimed.

"He has caused us to unerringly reach our destination far sooner than we would otherwise have! Truly, we enjoy the Emperor's blessing!" Theobald was not sure, but it did seem too fortuitous that they should be blown off course to exactly where they were actually trying to get. Perhaps the Emperor was indeed aiding them, Theobald was not a priest and could not say. Such thoughts made him uncomfortable and he turned his mind back to the scans as information continued to come in.

The planet had only a single continent, though it was surrounded by a number of islands of various sizes. The incoming data revealed that there was little in the way of roads and there appeared to be few permanent buildings and there did not appear to be any electrical power being generated. _Minucci_ , who joined them on the bridge, speculated that the natives had regressed to a primitive state, a common occurrence on many human worlds during the Dark Age of Technology.

Over the course of the next several weeks they studied the data from the probes and planned out a course of action. Despite the absence of civilization it appeared that there was a sizable human population. This was not unified, but rather divided roughly into three groups. One wandered the continent in roving groups, most likely family members. The nomads were mostly armed with weapons made of stone or fire-hardened wood, though a few, clearly tribal leaders, were armed with metal weapons, though they could not determine where the metal came from.

The second group, also divided into groups, lived primarily in the mountains and there appeared to be hostility between them and the plain dwellers. The third group lived along the coast and the islands. They seemed slightly more developed more than the other two, their settlements were more permanent and there were some crude roads connecting the settlements. The drones hovered near the largest of the nomad camps: recording their language for study and getting an idea of their social hierarchy. This was due to Freeley had decided to begin his work with the plain dwellers. Once they had sufficient recordings of the natives' language Sister Cosano began studying them to enable Freeley to communicate with them. Theobald took lessons as well, as he would likely need to know the language as well. Fortunately it appeared to be a bastardization of Low Gothic and learning it was not too difficult.

This gave Theobald time to study the reports of the probes sent to the asteroid field, reports which were quite promising indeed. The probes revealed that many of the asteroids were rich in metals and Minucci assured him that there would be little difficulty in extracting the metals from the asteroids, metals which would make Theobald a very wealthy man, if he could keep the majority of the metal by being claimed by Minucci and his superiors. That; however, would be an argument for another day. Sooner than expected Freeley declared that he and his party were prepared to meet the natives. This was sooner than expected, but Freeley appeared to be eager to on with his work of spreading the word of the Emperor.

Freeley had decided to first interact with what appeared to be the largest tribe of nomads, a fact which appeared to have at least a minor amount of influence with the other nomad tribes. The shuttle bearing Theobald and the others landed on a small hill in the path of the nomads, they were sure that the nomads had seen the descending craft and would come to investigate, initiating contact. The party consisted of Theobald, Freeley, Kydexus and several servitors and arms men from the ship. Theobald planted his own flag into earth while one of Kydexus's servitors planted the Imperial banner into the ground next to it. As this was done Theobald recited the words that he had read another Rogue Trader had used when he claimed a world.

"I claim this world in the name of the Emperor of Man and His Imperium. I bring justice and truth for the loyal, punishment and death for the guilty, and the spoils I take by my own hand." With that said they awaited the coming of the nomads. They did not have to wait long.

They soon saw a small band of riders coming towards them. There were five on them, mounted on what appeared to be Terran horses. They were all male and appeared to all be young, late teens to early twenties in Terran years. They were clad in animal hides and cured leather and heavy boots of the same. They were armed with spears tipped with flint. The rider in front appeared to be the leader of the group; he was riding a finer horse and around his neck was a necklace of crudely beaten bronze. He pulled his horse to a halt about ten feet from Theobald and the others. The man moved his horse forward a few feet and then halted again while casting looks of unease and perhaps even fear at the shuttle and the strange clothing and weapons of the travelers.

"Who are you?" Theobald was pleased to see that the language lessons had paid off. Freeley stepped forward and raised his arms shoulder height with the palms facing outward, which he claimed was the local greeting custom.

"Travelers of the Great Plain. _Ishmael of Clan Freeley and I greet you in the name of the Lord of the Sky on his Golden Throne." During her study of the local language and customs_ Sister Cosano had learned that the chief deity of the plains dwellers was known as the Lord of the Sky and they believed that their sun was a golden throne upon which the Lord of the Sky sat and watched the people of the plains. Freeley had assured Theobald that it would be simplicity itself to insert the Emperor into their religion and bring them into the Imperial Creed.

The leader of the horsemen looked confused and wary of the party. He kept looking at their, to him, unusual clothing and the shuttle sitting behind them. He was clearly somewhat intimidated, but was determined not to show it. Instead he drew himself up in an effort to make himself appear dignified and important. He copied the gesture of greeting and began to speak in turn.

"I am Klee of Clan Detmold. Anselm of Clan Detmold, lord of the clan is my sire's sire. I greet you and request to know why you travel in our lands."

"We have traveled from the stars to reveal great truths of the Lord of the Sky. I humbly request that we be permitted entry into your camp that we may speak with your kin and holy men." Klee sat back, apparently deep in thought, then he seemed to make up his mind.

"You will remain here. I shall ride back to the camp and see if they will speak to you. My companions will remain here with you." The way he said it made it clear that it was not a request. Not waiting for a reply he turned and left.

The two groups stood apart in silence, the nomads were clearly nervous of the strangers and trying to cover it up by some putting on an air of disinterest which fooled no one and others put on an air of arrogance which bordered on pugnacious. Theobald and the others, for their part remained silent in an effort to project an air of solemn superiority. Theobald was rather surprised that the natives were not running away from the shuttle, which must seem god-like or magical. While they were clearly uneasy they held their ground. He wanted to ask Freeley about this, but he felt that if they were to start talking in front of the locals like that it would spoil their air of mystery and so he kept his mouth shut. After what Theobald guessed to have been an hour or Klee returned with a larger party of men and several horses without riders. He came to a halt and addressed Freeley.

"Speaker Freeley, Clan Master Anselm has agreed to speak with you and has provided mounts for you to hasten your arrival." Theobald groaned mentally. He had never ridden a mount before and had no idea how it was done.

 _Wonderful_. He thought; _The mysterious stranger from the stars is going to fall off his horse and look like a fool in front of everyone._ Nevertheless he moved toward the creature while watching seditiously watching Klee mount to see how it was done. He thought that he did pretty well, it only took him two tries before he got up onto the horse. Some of the nomads stifled laughter and Theobald felt his face flush. He forced himself to ignore it and sit up proud, he took some cold comfort in the fact that Freeley was having as difficult a time as he was and Kydexus was apparently not invited at all. The ride was unpleasant affair, with Theobald bouncing up and down and the blanket on which he sat providing little in the way of padding and he was soon very sore. He looked to Freeley, who was clearly suffering as much as Theobald was. He; however, appeared determined not to give any sign of discomfort and Theobald was determined to do the same. It appeared that the nomads were deliberately moving a relatively slow pace for their sake and it was approaching sunset when they at last reached the camp of the nomads.

It was a far larger affair than Theobald had anticipated it would be, there had to be several thousand people in the camp. The dwellings were all temporary shelters consist of large hide tents, all with colorful ribbons flowing from the tops. On the outskirts of the camp was a large corral in which a large number of horses moved about. The nomads with them led Theobald and Freeley through the camp to the largest of the tents which was located in the center of the camp. At the entrance to the tent a small party was awaiting them.

The man in the center and who appeared to be the leader of the camp. He was taller and heavier than Klee, but there were some distinct family resemblances in the jaw and chin. His clothing was of the same quality but he wore jewelry made of gold with colored stones. On his right side was an older man, with a gray beard which reached all the way down to his belt. He leaned on a staff, the top of which was roughly carved into the likeness of a face surrounded by flames. The man on the left was completely different.

He was tall, taller even than Theobald and unlike Theobald the man was extremely burly. Its butt resting on the ground was axe which came up to his waist. Its head, while still crude was of better make than the jewelry and was the first object of steel that Theobald had seen. The party pulled up before the three men and dismounted. Fortunately Theobald was tall enough that he was able to reach the ground before it became apparent that he was half falling off. Freeley was not quite so fortunate, but he avoided falling completely on his backside and was able to maintain an air of dignity about him as they approached the three men. As the two groups drew near Klee made the gesture of greeting and bowed slightly and began to speak.

"Greetings Anselm, kinsman and Clan Master. I bring you the leaders of the star-men." At his words Anselm turned and repeated the gesture to Theobald and Freeley.

"I greet you, travelers from the skys. May your water never run short and may you allows have an abundance of grass for your mounts and may your kin always welcome you at your journey's end." Freeley repeated both the man's gestures and his words. Once this was done he launched into a speech which he had obviously prepared.

"My master, the god-Emperor of Mankind, who you know as Lord of the Sky, has sent me to bring his word to you so that your world may become a part of his glorious empire." The tribesmen and those who had gathered to listen began to mutter amongst themselves. Anselm raised his hand and silence fell over the crowd.

"These are weighty matters." He turned to Freeley.

"Let us discuss these matters within the sanctuary of the Sky Lord." With that he rose and, accompanied by Freeley and the older man departed and made their way towards another of the tents, one even larger and more colorfully decorated than the one they were in front of. Theobald moved to follow by but he found his way blocked by the third member of the greeting party, who moved unobtrusively but decidedly in his path. The man inclined his head slightly, both as a curtesy and to enable him to look Theobald in the eye.

"Greetings Star-traveler. I am Rolf of Clan Aiava and it is my honor to become known to you. I would be honored if you would walk with me." Again this seemed more a command than a suggestion and Theobald found himself walking with the man. As they did so Theobald took the opportunity to both introduce himself and to ask a question which had been nagging at the back of his mind since they had first made contact with the natives.

"Forgive my ignorance Rolf of Clan Aiava, but I have a question and I pray you answer it." Ortiz nodded, an indication for him to continue.

"You and your people seem somewhat…underwhelmed by our arrival. I have seen some unease and confusion at our arrival, but nowhere near as much as I expected." Rolf smiled at him.

"There is indeed surprise and fear, but your coming is not a surprise, for your coming was foretold."

"Foretold?!" Theobald said, his tone mixture of surprise and confusion. Rolf smiled at Theobald's confusion.

"Speak Ortiz of Clan Mazion, the one who was with the Clan Master and I. Not only does he speak for the Sky Lord, but he is also the seer of the clan. He was blessed with a vision in which he foresaw your coming and the aid that you would give to us."

"Aid?" Theobald asked.

"The tribes of the mountains, the accursed Pol'kat tribes have forsaken the Sky Lord, the spirits and of their ancestors and the spirits of Lakar to worship an evil spirit."

"Who is Lakar?" Theobald asked, a feeling of unease growing inside him at the mention of a devil." Appearing to not sense this Rolf raised his arms and spun around to encompass all in sight.

"All of this is Lakar: the sky, the mountains, the seas, the rivers and the plains. All of these are Lakar the children of the Sky Lord." He looked as if he might laugh.

"You may sail between the stars Theobald of Clan Traub, but you seem rather ignorant as well." Despite the obvious humor in the remark Theobald felt his hackles rise at being the butt of the other man's jest. It was this perhaps which prompted him to ask his next question.

"What is this devil you mentioned?" That stole the humor from Rolf.

"I cannot fully say, I know little of such things. All I know is that this devil came to the Pol'kat in a falling star three seasons ago and is a wicked and cruel and demands that the Pol'kat make war upon us.

"This is not unusual, we have warred with each other and the Elmar who dwell on the coast since the earliest memories of our peoples, but this is different. Before we fought to steal horses, cattle, women and other prizes, or to settle matters of honor. Now they fight simply to kill. Worse this devil that they now serve sends demons of fire and stone to aid them in slaying or people. That is why the vision of Speaker Ortiz was greeted with relief. For it is believed that with your aid the Plo'kat and their devil-god may at last be defeated." Theobald was not sure he liked the sound of any of this, but before he could say anything the sounds of screaming were heard.

"THEY ARE COMING!" Someone shouted. "THE POL'KAT ARE ATTACKING!" Everyone was screaming and running, some gathering weapons to fight the attackers while others were trying to flee. Rolf cursed and ran towards the fighting, his axe at the ready. Not knowing what else to do Theobald followed. It was not long before they reached the source of the fight and Theobald nearly froze in terror.

The attackers where running amok through the camp. Their arms were better made that the nomads, with many of their weapons clearly made of metal. Many had obscene runes cut into their bodies and they were killing the defenseless with as much abandon as those who fought back. It was not these things; however, which caused his near panic, it was their leader.

Rolf had called them demons and what stood before Theobald was indeed a fallen angel. Clad in power armor which had once been a mixture of green and yellow, but which now was mostly gray where the paint had come off, at least in those areas not covered with blood. The original chapter symbol had been defaced with another which sent a wave of nausea through Theobald just to look at it. It was armed with a chainsword and a bolt pistol. It raised both of these overhead and bellowed in was made raw by years of hate-fueled slaughter.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

 **Author's Notes: Well what did you think? I hope you liked it. I did not want them to spend whole chapters getting the natives to trust them, was it handled well? As for the traitor marine I wanted something other than a World Eater. Let me know what you think. Happy belated 4** **th** **of July to all my American readers, not meant as a slight to non-American readers. Please pray for all who need it. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long. As always I own nothing.**

For a moment Theobald could not move, frozen in fear at the sight before him. True, he had seen fallen marines before, but that had been a very different set of circumstances. Here there were no servitors to gun the traitor down and there were not tunnels for Theobald to hide or run down. Here he would have to fight, especially as at just that moment the traitor seemed to sense his presence and charged towards him.

That at least seemed to shake Theobald out of his state of frozen immobility. Snapping into motion Theobald raised his laspistol and fired. The shot took the marine straight in the chest, but did not even slow the marine down. If anything it seemed to make the traitor even angrier as he let out a roar and seemed to double his speed as he headed towards Theobald. Fortunately the marine appeared to have forgotten all about his bolter pistol in his rage and was determined apparently to do all of his killing with his chainsword. In the time it took to take a breath he was on Theobald, blade swinging. Theobald tried to get out of the way, but was not moving anywhere fast enough and was only saved by the fact that he stumbled and fell to the side and the blade only grazed him, though that was enough to tear skin and cause blood to flow. The marine drew back his blade for a second blow, but was interrupted.

Speaker Ortiz appeared walking slowly and chanting in his native tongue too fast for Theobald to follow what he was saying. As he spoke the air around him seemed to crackle and a ball of lightning appeared above the head of his staff. At a gesture from the Speaker the ball of lightning shot out to strike the Marine in the chest. The marine stumbled backwards, but retained his footing. Seeming to have completely forgotten Theobald he turned towards the shaman.

"Witch! I am a servant of the Blood God! The bane of your weaker and cowardly kind!" So saying he charged the Speaker. Ortiz, seeing this, began to chant again. He was not fast enough and with a horrible, wet tearing sound the marine cut the Speaker in half.

With a cry of anger and denial Rolf charged the marine, intent on avenging the Speaker and clearly not intimidated by the man's grizzly fate. Not quite sure what else to do Theobald found himself running after the man. Their approach did not go unnoticed by the marine, who turned to face them with something like a snort. Had he used his bolt pistol he could have shot them both down before they got anywhere close to him. However; he once again ignored it in favor of his bloody chainsword. Rolf was ahead of Theobald and faster and so he was able to reach the marine first and swung his axe at his foe. The marine, for his part, swung his blade, not at Rolf, but at the haft of his axe. The churning teeth of the blade cut through the wood and the head flew away to fall to the ground.

The blade continued on and would have killed Rolf if it had not been for Theobald. Coming up behind the nomad he grabbed the back of the Rolf's clothing and pulled back with all of his strength. Rolf stumbled backwards and fell on his back. This motioned pulled Theobald forward, towards the marine. Without thinking he reflexively thrust his blade forward. The marine had been forced to lean forward to strike at his targets and the blade somehow found the small gap between the marine's helmet and breastplate. Blood poured down the blade, but the marine did not die. With a choking roar he jerked his head back. This freed him from the blade, but the motion also enlarged the wound.

The marine at last seemed to realize that he had been wounded, but it was too late and the damage had been done. His bolter fell to the ground as his hand went to his throat in an effort to stem the blood flowing from the wound. Blood continued to flow and he soon fell to his knees and then to his side. He thrashed about and gurgled for a short time and then was still. Theobald, who had fallen to the ground, just lay there for what seemed like hours, but was likely only seconds. Slowly he became aware of the fact that battle was still being waged around them. Pol'kat were continuing their attack on the Detmold, though those close enough to see what had happened were clearly in shock at the death of the traitor marine.

Theobald's arm was still numb so he doubted that he could wield his sword effectively so instead he raised his laspistol and fired. Shooting with his off-hand his first few shots went wide, but the ones after that struck several of the raiders. The effect that these hits had were far different than when he had shot at the marine. Where the shots had had little to no effect on the ceramite armor of the marine the las bolts burned through the clothing or crude armor of the raiders and all he hit went down, either dead or badly wounded. The Pol'kat were wavering on the edge of breaking when a cry went up. A large group of nomads, led by Anselm and Freeley, appeared. They reached them just as Theobald shot down another raider and Freeley was quick to capitalize on this.

"SEE PEOPLE OF LAKAR! THE EMPORER WATCHES OVER AND PROTECTS HIS FAITHFULL! HIS CHAMPION STRIKES DOWN THE HERETIC WITH HIS VERY FIRE AND EVEN THE FELL CHAMPIONS OF THE ENEMY FALL TO THOSE WHO THE EMPORER FAVORS!" Those around him gave a great roar and charged. That was enough, the Pol'kat broke and fled with the Detmold in pursuit.

Feeling was returning to his arm, but now that the initial danger was over the adrenalin was leaving him, leaving him feeling drained, tired and all the cuts and bruises began to ach. So while he made a show of following after the raiders and pursuers he never had a chance to catch up with them. The chase lasted for the rest of the day, later joined by more nomads on their horses, they caught and killed many of the Pol'kat, though some managed to give them the slip.

With Speaker Ortiz dead it fell to Freeley to conduct the ceremony for the fallen. The dead Detmold were burned so that their souls would be free to roam the plains. Freeley prayed for them, being sure to use the Emperor and the Sky Lord interchangeably in his continual effort to get the Detmold used to thinking the Emperor when they heard the name of their god. The dead Pol'kat were merely thrown into a pit and forgotten. The exception had been the dead traitor marine, whom Freeley insisted on burning. The Detmold were angered by this, as burning was an honorable way to dispose of bodies, an honor which the marine did not deserve. Freeley agreed, but claimed that the body was tainted and if thrown into the earth might taint it and they could not take the risk. Later that night as Theobald rested in a hut provided for him Freeley came and joined him.

"Well done my boy, your efforts today went a long way to showing these people the Emperor's might. It also smoothed the translation of this world into the Imperium."

"How so?" Theobald asked.

"Anselm is primitive, not stupid. He knows that now that the Imperium knows about Lakar it will become part of it and it is to his advantage to be the one who helps to ensure that this happens. He saw your weapons and what they can do. By being in favor of the Imperium he will gain access to these weapons, which in turn will allow him to defeat not only the Pol'kat, but also the Elmar and the other nomad clans. This will make him the lord of the entire planet, something which the Imperium will approve of as long as he serves the Imperium faithfully.

"All that remains is for us to deal with the remaining Pol'kat and any traitor Astartes which may be about." Theobald felt a groan building inside him, he did not want to have to fight another one ever again. Something of what he felt must have been visible on his face as Freeley smiled.

"Fear not my child, I do not believe that another way in which we may both defeat these foes and bring this world into the fold of the Imperium without you having to risk your life again."

Despite what Theobald thought, there was no immediate action taken. Anselm instead focused on gathering the other nomads and even some of the Elmar and forging them into an alliance, one which Anselm intended to eventually lead to them acknowledging him as their lord. He was aided in this by Freeley and his people moving among the people spreading the word of the Emperor and hailing Anselm as his representative to the world. To impress this on the various peoples Freeley had Theobald bring down a contingent of his arms men and had them fire a volley of lasguns, an act which clearly greatly impressed the locals. All the while Theobald had his ship scanning the mountains in an effort to locate the Pol'kat camps and any other traitor marines. Finally, three weeks after they had landed, the army began to move.

Theobald rode with them, accompanied by his arms men and Freeley. To Theobald's disappointment Kydexus did not accompany the army. Instead he remained behind in the camp to discuss matters with the various tribal elders in an effort to organize a future government once the war was over and ensured that it would be one which was favorable to the Imperium. The army moved rapidly across the plains till they arrived at the foot of the mountains on which the Pol'kat made their homes. From their position the army could actually see the man Pol'kat encampment. They were in greater numbers than Theobald had expected and while some still looked normal others were clearly marked by their worship of Chaos. Theobald saw all of this through his magnoculars and felt his throat tighten reflexively when he saw several more traitor marines. He was distracted by Freeley who moved to stand in front of the army.

"Brothers," he called, raising his voice to be heard by as many as possible; "Let us pray.

"Oh Emperor, mast of mankind, we beseech you, strike down our foes. Rain down your wrath and show the faithful your might!" These were the signal that Theobald had been waiting for. He pulled out his comm which connected him to the _Adventurer._

"Fire."

They had already imputed the coordinates of the Pol'kat camp into the lance batteries and at Theobald's command those batteries fired. With a light which burned his eyes the beams flew down and struck the Pol'kat camp. Even at a distance they could hear the sound of the impact, like the boom of distant thunder. The camp flew apart, many of the structures were instantly destroyed and many that were not caught fire. Though he did not raise his magnoculars again Theobald could imagine all the dead and maimed people, assuming any of them actually survived. Freeley turned to face the devastation, a look of rapture on his face.

"SEE! SEE THE WRATH OF THE EMPEROR AS IT SMITES HIS FOES! BEHOLD HIS POWER MADE MANIFEST!"

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been long, I have been out of town and battling writer's block. What did you think? I wanted to avoid the old advanced civilization taking advantage of primitive, the guy they are working with knows what is going on and is making the most of it. What did you think of using the ship as a means to convince the natives of the Emperor's power? Let me know what you think. Please pray for those who need it and may Jesus bless you.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long. I hope that this makes up for that. As always I do not own the Warhammer universe.**

After the lance strike things proceeded quickly. The attack had broken the back of the Pol'kat and those who survived soon laid down their arms and pleaded for mercy. Freeley examined each and every one of these, those whom he judged tainted were killed and the rest of them were enslaved. Anselm sent out messengers to reach all the other tribes who had not been present to see the Emperor's power and the destruction of the Pol'kat. The point was received by the other tribes, including the Elmar, who among others, soon sent messengers requesting an alliance with Anselm. While all of this was interesting to Theobald, they were not his main concern.

Once the fighting was over Adept Kydexus joined them and immediately began helping to organize the new government which was forming under Anselm and bring the world into the fold of the Imperium. Theobald's main interest was the rights to the asteroids which encircled the planet. Anselm did not seem that interested in them, either he did not understand or he was simply more interested in what was going on with the planet itself. Indeed it seemed that the only thing standing between Theobald and the entire asteroid field was Adept Kydexus, who insisted that at least fifty percent of the field had to remain in control of the newly appointed High Clan Lord Anselm and would be thus covered under the Imperial Tithe.

Theobald's potential profits were further cut into by Magos Minucci who pointed that he lacked the machines and personnel to mine the asteroids. The Magos informed him that the Mechanicus would be perfectly happy to provide the personnel and equipment to mine the asteroids, in exchange of a percentage of the harvested materials. Theobald felt that he was getting the short end of the deal, but he had little choice but to grit his teeth and sign the agreement and silently resolve that in future he would be better prepared. Nevertheless, even with the deductions, he was still looking to make quite a bit of profit. If he were to meet with one or two more successes like this one and his finances would be secured, at least in the short term. It was for this reason that he was eager to be on his way as soon as possible. However; there were still forms and rituals that had to be observed.

In a ceremony attended by both Imperial and local officials Lakar was formally absorbed in the Imperium. There were prayers, oaths of loyalty and so on and so forth. All of which was followed by a massive feast of local wines and delicacies. Once this was done Theobald returned to his ship and made ready to depart. Freeley and several of Adept Kydexus's people would be remaining behind to continue to proselytize and integrate the people of the world into their new situation. But there would be a new face about the ship. For Rolf would be accompanying them.

"Why?" Theobald had asked him when the nomad had informed him of his decision.

"It is not my decision to make. When you saved my life you created a bond between us. It is now my task to protect you in order to repay that debt." Though part of Theobald wanted to protest he could see that it would do no good. Besides, it felt good to have someone with him who was loyal to him without an external agenda.

Fortunately Rolf was quick to adapt to the technology of the ship and its crew. For the most part he kept his traditional garb, the only real changes he made was to his weaponry. He quickly incorporated a pump-action shotgun and a flack vest. Though by far his favorite weapon was the two-handed chainaxe that he found in the armory.

A standard week after the ceremony was held the _Adventurer_ set off. Not having a specific destination to head towards this time Neall was allowed to pick the course pretty much at random and head in the direction that he felt was most likely to prove effective. He claimed that his abilities allowed him to most accurately divine the proper course, but personally Theobald had his doubts, but he really did not have any other options.

According to the ship's chrono they were in the Warp for around a standard month when they emerged into real space. Everyone on the bridge held their breath as the scanning commenced and a cheer went up when it was declared that there was indeed an inhabitable world located within the system. There were two other planets in the system as well, but they appeared to be little more than lifeless rocks. As for the inhabitable planet it appeared to have a mixed environment, with terrain ranging from arid, to heavily wooded. Scans showed that, like Lakar, had a human population which numbered at least in the tens of thousands, though they did not have the abilities to gain a detailed count.

Theobald planned to repeat the procedure that they had used on Lakar, to land near the largest settlement and attempt to make contact. However; that did not appear to be an option on this world. Unlike Lakar there were a number of permeate settlements, though there also appeared to be nomadic groups as well. Additionally, Magos Minucci informed them that there were a certain level of technology, though far inferior to what Theobald and his companions possessed. The scans showed that many of buildings in the larger settlements had power and several locations showed signs of Promethium extraction and refining. It was obvious that some of that was being used to power the buildings and there was a network of roads connecting many of the settlements and ground vehicles moving along it.

In addition to the Promethium the people also raised large herds of herbivores for both their meat and hides. Finally, in addition to the extraction of Promethium, there was also other mining operations underway. Primarily in the more mountainous regions there operations to excavate various minerals, including gold, from the earth.

This time they decided gather more information before making landing and spent several weeks observing the world. It appeared that this world, which was apparently named Tuclara, unlike Lakar, did have, at least in part, a government. Though in truth, from what they could see, it did not appear to have much in common with the planetary governments with which Theobald was familiar with. Rather than a single ruler, Tuclara was officiated over by a council of what appeared to be some of the world's wealthiest members. Rather than having a regular Planetary Defense Force the various members instead had forces of men loyal to them to enforce the laws that they imposed. Furthermore, it appeared that the settlements were in conflict with several of the nomadic groups. Equipped with knowledge Theobald determined to land and make contact.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry it is a bit short. I was planning to make it longer, but I decided to use it as a lead into a longer chapter next time. Yes, I recreated the American West. If it seems things are going too well to be 40k trust me, his luck is going to take a turn soon. Till next time please pray for all who need it and may Jesus bless you.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long and I hope that this makes up for that, as always I only own my original creations.**

After two months of observing the goings on and power structures of Tuclara Theobald decided that it was time to make contact with the inhabitants. As they did poses vox technology, though far weaker than the capacities which the _Adventurer_ boasted, Theobald was able to make contact with the ruling council. At first they were incredulous and thought it was all some sort of joke, even going as far as to threaten Theobald with punishment. At last; however, he managed to persuade them that he truly was what he claimed to be and they agreed to meet with him and discuss matters related to trade. Wanting to show that he did not intend hostilities Theobald decided to take only a single shuttle down, though he made sure that it was a shuttle filled with his arms-men and that they were indeed well-armed.

The location which was given to piolet turned out to be the town square of the largest settlement, where the Council of Elders, as the local leaders called themselves, met. The sky was free of any inclement weather and the descent was without incident and Theobald was able to prepare himself for the meeting to come. The members of the Council needed him, as of this moment he was their only connection to the wider Imperium, the only means that they had to ship their goods and increase their profits exponentially. On the other hand, they may not want to join the wider Imperium. They only hold power over a single world, but in the current state of things they were biggest fish in a small pond and they would definitely not be liking paying the tithes which they would be required to pay from here on out. If they disliked the idea enough they might try to drive Theobald away and while his men had superior weaponry, the locals had the numbers.

If it came to that then Theobald would have only two options: Option One, level buildings with orbital bombardment or Option Two, leave the system and report the finding to the wider Imperium. He did not have the stomach to do the first and while the second would result in the world being brought into the Imperium it would be due to the efforts of others and would not gain Theobald anything. Therefore it was in everyone's best interest that these negations went well. He could not allow the members of the Council to bully him, even if he was getting used to talking to men of power as equals.

He had decided on trying to bring them around by emphasizing the benefits of joining the Imperium and had been rehearsing a speech to explain this. He would have to show them all the profits that they stood to make, profits which he would assure them would far exceed the tithes which they would have to pay. He would also assure them that the Adeptus Administratum would be more than happy to leave them in their positions of power, something he was fairly certain of. In his dealings with Adept Kydexus, whom he had enjoyed leaving behind on the ship for security reasons, Theobald got the impression that the Adeptus Administratum did not particularly care who ruled a world in the Imperium's name, only that tithes were payed and the world was managed to the satisfaction of the Administratum.

Determined to make an impressive entrance he was clad in the same attire which he had worn when he first received his Warrant of Trade, with the addition of the power sword which he had captured from the pirates. Rolf, attired in his new armor and bearing his new weapons. The remaining ten seats in the Arvus Lighter were taken up by the ten arms men who were acting as his honor guard. Nearby his ship's Aquila Lander descended with them. It would not be landing, as Theobald met with the leaders it would be circling overhead, its nose-mounted Heavy Bolter ready to open up if treachery was attempted. He truly hoped that it would not be necessary, but considering how badly they would be outnumbered he needed to be sure that he had an edge of some kind. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the piolet.

"We will be landing in twenty seconds my lord." Theobald nodded, even though the man could not see him and turned to give a reassuring look to Aloisio, the commander of the arms men, the man returned sour look.

The big hiver had argued against Theobald's plan to be the first off of the shuttle when the landed. Theobald believed that it necessary for optics, it showed respect for the Elders and that he trusted them. Aloisio had disagreed and had wanted his men to dis embark first to ensure that the area was safe before Theobald exited the safety of the shuttle. There had been a brief discussion, but Theobald had put his foot down and Aloisio had backed down a fact for which Theobald was grateful. As the Rouge Trader he had to show that he was in charge and he had learned from his time fighting the Orks that a leader could not be seen as weak by giving in to his subordinates every time they disagreed. Indeed, he wondered if that had not been Aloisio's goal all along, to test him to see if he would give in or stand up to the older man. Just then the shuttle landed with a thump. As the hatch lowered he rose, brushed mostly imaginary dust from his clothing and walked out to meet his hosts.

Both the area and the crowd who had gathered to meet him were larger than he had expected, but he supposed that it was to be expected, given that he was the first off-worlder to come to the world in hundreds, if not thousands of years. Waiting about ten feet from the shuttle were the Council of Elders, at least some of them, there were ten of them and Theobald knew that the full council numbered fifteen. Arrayed in a semicircle around them were some of the men which they employed to enforce their will and guard their assets. They did not have uniforms per se, instead they all had mostly the same style of civilian clothing: long-sleeved shirts and pants of heavy material, thick heavy boots and dusters which fell almost to their ankles. Additionally most of them also sported primitive flack armor. Their armaments consisted primarily of autoguns and autopistols, though many of them also sported large knives.

The members of the council were more elaborately dress. They wore suits of some form of silky material. While the suits were all black they all also sported large neckties of bright colors, mostly green and red. The men also had large gold chains across their lower stomachs attacked to some type of chronoes. Behind the armed men a large crowd of people watched the proceedings. Many of them were armed in a manner similar to the security men, though most of them did not sport body armor. The oldest of the council stepped forward. He was tall, though not as tall as Theobald and leaned on a cane of carved wood. He gave a short bow.

"Greetings. I am Samuel Jamison. On behalf of the Council of Elders and the people of Tuclara I extend you welcome." Theobald returned Jamison's bow.

"I thank you for your greeting. I am Theobald of House Traub." Back home some nobles spoke that way and he thought it made him sound more noble-like.

"On behalf of the Imperium of Man I look forward to a profitable relationship for all of those involved." This seemed to please the members of the council, mostly anyway. Theobald kept his speech on the optimistic side, stressing the positive aspects of union with the Imperium. He knew that it was very likely that the relationship would be far less pleasant. I also knew that it was going to happen and it would be for the best if they went in thinking that it was going to be a simple business arrangement. Hopefully it would all work out. Jamison seemed to pick up something of his mood for he spoke again.

"This is truly a momentous occasion. Perhaps it would be best if we were to continue this conversation in more appropriate settings." Theobald nodded in agreement.

The councilors' men fell in on both sides of them, with several out in front to clear a path through the crowd. Theobald fell in with the councilors, Rolf at his side and his arms men forming up on either side of them, some of the natives seemed uneasy around them, but they made no comment as they proceeded. It was getting rather hot and Theobald was pleased to learn that they did not have far to go before they reached the council meeting house. It was a four-storied building elaborately decorated within, with dark wood paneling, thick red carpets and curtains and numerous paintings hung on the walls. At last they came to the room on the top floor which was dominated by a large table illuminated by a massive gold and crystal chandelier. Seated at the table were the remaining members of the Council were waiting for them.

More greetings and words of welcome were exchanged and toasts offered they got down to the business of negotiating terms of the entry of Tuclara into the Imperium. Theobald was able to convince them that they could maintain power on the world as long a required tithes were met. They did not like the talk of tithes in the least, so Theobald went out of his way to try to expound on all the advantages of joining the Imperium. He was interrupted by one of the councilors, one which appeared to be the oldest man present.

"Your words are all well and good Sir. However; I for one would like to see some more concrete evidence of you and the Imperium's goodwill." Theobald was a little nervous, but determined to make the best of it. So he gave the man his full attention and asked the obvious question.

"You had something in particular perhaps?"

"Indeed I do," the man said; "We and the people who look to us for leadership have long suffered the deprivations of the various groups of raiders who have attacked our holdings, killed our people and caused us to abandon our efforts to develop various areas of the territory in which they hold sway. If the Imperium is as powerful as you claim that it is then prove it by aiding us in dealing with these raiders." Theobald looked at him and turned his gaze to take in all of the men seated at the table. It was not an unreasonable request, not dissimilar to what he had done Lakar. Such an action would not only ease the world's transition into the Imperium, but could also prove to be profitable for him as well.

"Very well," he said in what he hoped was a cunning voice; "I think that that could be arranged. There is, of course, the matter of the expenses which any such course would incur." The men all gave knowing looks. They might not be thrilled at the prospect, but they had expected that.

"You had something in mind perhaps?" Jamison asked.

"I am sure that we could come to some sort of arrangement." Theobald replied, drawing on the classes that he had received in preparation for receiving his Warrant of Trade.

"I believe that having the rights to some of the recourses obtained from the territories which the raiders occupy should cover the costs." The men looked at each other and seemed to come to an agreement and then turned their attention back to Theobald and the elder spoke again.

"I believe that we can come to an arrangement. Provided," he added in a firm tone of voice; "That you are indeed able to deal with these raiders." Theobald nodded.

"I will need a map of the areas in which they operate, preferably one which has the areas where we think that they operate marked."

"We can arrange that." There were a few more pleasantries and then Theobald withdrew.

He had originally planned to return to the _Adventurer_ but the Council insisted that he stay dirt side. They provided him rooms in what they claimed was the finest hotel in the city. He was on the second floor in a very comfortable suite of rooms, indeed they were more comfortable than his quarters on the ship. Looking around he found it hard to imagine that he had been living in a one room hab block not so very long ago. He thought about those whom he had fought Orks with and wondering where they were at that moment, he hoped that they were doing well. His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at his door.

He had not been expecting any guests and neither had Rolf. The nomad had been fascinated by all the new things which he had seen since leaving his homeworld, but this had not dulled his senses and he was immediately on the alert. He moved to place himself between Theobald and the door, shotgun in hand. He opened the door ready to bring the weapon up if needed. Standing there was a man, Theobald thought that he was one of the men working for the Council. He gave Rolf and the gun an amused look.

"May I come in?" Theobald nodded to Rolf and he stepped aside to let the man in. As he did so Theobald took in the man.

He was a short man, but stocky with a weather-beaten face. His hair and eyes were both brown, though the hair had been bleached by the sun. He wore a duster over a flack vest, long-sleeved shirt, heavy pants and scuffed boots and a wide-brimmed hat. At his belt were a pair of stub revolvers and the man moved in a manner which suggested that he was used to using them. He looked around the room with a sardonic grin.

"I see that they set you up in style." He said in a voice which was equally sardonic.

"May I help you?" Theobald asked the man. In response the man pulled a roll of parchment and handed it to Theobald.

"The map that you requested. The Council asked me to bring it along to you. They also asked me to accompany you on your expedition."

"Does the Council think that I need assistance?" Theobald asked. The man's grin grew even wider.

"I rather fancy, if I may be perfectly honest, that the Council wants me along to ensure that you do what you promised to do." Rolf sputtered in anger.

"They question the honor of my Chieftain?!" As he spoke he took a step towards the man. The man, for his part, took a step backwards but kept his smile.

"Now, now big fella, no need to get belligerent, just saying what I think they think.

"Besides," he said, in a tone which held absolutely no humility; "I know a thing or two about gun play. I also know a thing or two about tracking and you may find those skills of value."

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"I don't think so."

"Can I at least have your name?"

"Marcus, Marcus Longwood of the High Mesa Marshals."

"Well, Marshal Marcus Longwood of High Mesa, we leave at dawn."

Theobald and Longwood spent the evening going over the map that he had brought and it did not take long to locate where the raiders closes to High Mesa, the name of the settlement where the Council met, was located. As they could not be entirely sure of the exact location Theobald decided that this time they could not execute another lance strike like they had on Lakar. Instead they would have to go in and deal with the raiders the old fashion way. Theobald, Rolf and Longwood and a small number of arms men would search on the ground. Once the raiders were located Theobald would contact the _Adventurer_ which would launch the Aquila and both Lighters filled with arms men to launch an attack from the air.

They rose before dawn and mounted the motorcycles which they had been provided by the Council. At first Theobald was nervous as he had not ridden one before and he was afraid, not only that he might fall and injure or kill himself, but also that he would embarrass himself in front of everyone. Fortunately for Theobald the tire of the bikes were wide and provided stability and the early part of the journey was in a straight line and he was able to get a handle on it. He noted that Rolf mastered it even faster and appeared to be enjoying himself immensely.

The area that they rode through eventually gave way to more arid terrain and the Theobald felt the temperature rose noticeably through the day. Despite this Theobald found himself enjoying it. All throughout his life he had never spent much time in places which were not either his home city, his ship or other confined spaces. Indeed, his time on Lakar had been the first time in such open terrain and he found it both frightening and exhilarating, though he had to keep the first part about him being frightened to himself as he did not want to appear weak.

The sun was directly above them when they came to a small creek and they stopped to rest, eat and refill their canteens. As they did so Longwood moved a little way away from the others and was looking around. Theobald had no idea what he was looking for and hoped that the man was as good as he claimed that he was. After a few minutes the man stopped and examined some of the vegetation which had grown up near the water. He rose up and waved the others over. As Theobald and the others approached he saw that the vegetation had been crushed. Longwood turned to look at Theobald and pointed.

"The tracks lead that way." Looking down Theobald could see that the vegetation had been crushed by wheeled vehicles, though he had no idea which direction the wheels had been going. Trusting Longwood he and the others mounted up and followed the marshal. He led them down a ravine for several miles when he called for another halt.

"I think that we are getting close. We should go the rest of the way on foot." They dismounted and, leaving one of the arms men behind to guard the vehicles, they continued on foot.

They continued on for about a mile or so, moving up and out of the ravine on the other side back onto the flatlands. Behind them was a rock formation which hid them from the water where they had stopped. There was more water here and there were a number of small trees and bushes. Some ways off, Theobald estimated around seven hundred yards, was a small cluster of buildings. Taking out his magnoculars Theobald was able to take a closer look and see that parked around the buildings were a number of ground vehicles, including many bikes similar to the ones Theobald and the others were using. He motioned them to take cover and then turned to Longwood as he handed the man the magnoculars.

"That them?"

"Aye, look there," he handed the magnoculars back and pointed to a spot. Looking himself Theobald saw a man walking from one building to another; "Know him. Don't know his real name, but everyone calls him Death's Head Daniel."

"Charming." Theobald said in a dry tone of voice. Longwood snorted and gave his sardonic chuckle.

"Well, regardless, he's the head honcho here."

"Good." Theobald said as he active his vox caster.

"This is Lord Traub to Eagle Leader. Home in on my position and strike."

"Acknowledged my lord. Eagle striking."

"Find cover and then open fire." Theobald told the others. They hastily followed his orders and open fire. He did not think that they hit much, if anything, but that was not their main concern. Their main concern was to get the enemy's attention and wait for the air support, they did not have to wait long.

Soon there was the rumbling of engines and soon the craft flashed into view. First came the Aquila, its Heavy Bolter tearing in the raiders who had spilled out of the buildings to fire on Theobald and his men. It then turned its attention to the buildings themselves. These were mostly made of wood and were torn to splinters. After it made three passes the Arvus Lighters came in for hard landings in front of the remains of the buildings. The raiders had by now scattered and the thrusters forced them farther apart and even knocked some to the ground. The rear hatches were already open and immediately jumped out and Aloisio soon had them formed up into a perimeter around the craft and had pouring las fire into the raiders. The raiders, for their part, were overwhelmed and the survivors were soon dropping their weapons and raising their hands in surrender. Seeing this Theobald activated his vox again.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" He and those with him rose from where they had taken shelter and moved to what remained of the buildings. Aloisio had had his men round up the raiders who had surrendered and had them sitting on the ground. Theobald was not surprised to see that "Death's Head" was not among them. He motioned to one of the arms men who had been with him, the man nodded and moved to carry out the order had been given. Theobald then moved to address the prisoners.

"I am Theobald Traub and I have allied myself with the Council of Elders. The time of raiders is over." He pointed to one of raiders at random and the man was pulled to his feet and brought before Theobald.

"I am releasing you. Go and tell the others of your kind what I have said. Tell them that if they surrender I will beseech the Council to be merciful, if they refuse I shall hunt them down and do to them what I did to you today. Make sure that they know that." He signaled to the arms man who walked a motorcycle over. The man looked at him one more time and then rode off. Theobald watched him go, smiling as he thought of the tracking device which Magos Minucci had given him and which he had had the arms man attach to the bike. If things did not go well, then at least he would know where at least some of the raiders were located.

He made his way back to High Mesa to report his success. Afterwards returned to the lodgings provided for him when he was told over the vox that an urgent message for him. At the urging of Chief Astropath Carilli Theobald took one of the Arvus Lighters and returned to the Adventurer. Once he was aboard he made his way to where the astropaths were quartered, though sequestered might be a better to describe it. Carilli was waiting for him as he approached and bowed.

"Greetings Lord Traub I am pleased that you were able to return so swiftly."

"You said that it was urgent." Theobald told him.

"Indeed my lord, the left hand of the Emperor summons you."

"What?"

"The eyes and executioners of the Emperor. They who move in the shadows. A debt is owed to them and now they collect." Theobald had a horrible thought occur to him.

"It is Inquisitor Vola isn't it?"

"Indeed it is my lord and he summons you."

"Summons me where?' Theobald asked, becoming slightly exasperated.

"He summons you a world deep within the Imperium. A world poisoned yet teeming with life. A world of tall towers and dark pits and rising above it all a word."

"What word?"

"A name. A name to encompass it all. Necromunda."

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone I hope you liked it. I did say his luck would change and I hope that you can see that it did, if you know anything about Necromunda you can guess the fun he is in for. With the game coming out and having read a number of stories about it I wanted to give it a try. Till then please pray for those effected by the fires in California, many are still missing. Those suffering in Africa from the Ebola outbreak and the American pastor held in China and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I updated this story I hope this makes up for that as Theobald's "adventures" begins.**

Theobald departed Tuclara as quickly as he could and set course for Tellus, where the message said that Inquisitor Vola was waiting for him. He did not take all of his people, of course, were he to do that it would endanger his chances of securing the percentage of the recourses of Tuclara as he had intended. So he left a contingent of armsmen led by Aloisio would remain behind to fulfill his side of the argument that he had made with the Council of Elders. Adept Kydexus would also be staying behind to oversee the induction of Tuclara into the Imperium, Theobald wondered if it was terribly wrong that part of him hoped that the man came down with some fatal local illness. In place of Adept Kydexus Theobald had been joined by Marshal Longwood.

"Why?" Theobald had asked when the man had asked to be allowed to join Theobald's crew. The man had shrugged.

"I have always enjoyed traveling and now that I have the chance to the stars themselves and know what I know I got the feeling that staying here would seem rather boring." After hearing that Theobald accepted Longwood's request, in a way the man reminded him of himself before he had received his Warrant of Trade.

Despite the sense of urgency it was several days before they were able to depart. Supplies had to be loaded. Aloisio and the men remaining behind had to be properly equipped and the agreements with the Council of Elders had to be formally signed. While all of this had been going on Neall had kept mostly to himself, something which seemed odd as the man in the short time that Theobald had known him had not given the impression of one who was content with his own company. Finally, the day before they were to depart Neall invited Theobald to visit him in his quarters, the one part of the ship which Theobald could not enter without permission. When Theobald had entered he found the navigator working on a piece of parchment.

"What are you doing?" Theobald had asked him.

"Updating the charts of this region which my House possess to include Tuclara and Lakar." He had paused and looked at Theobald a cunning look in his eyes.

"These can be quite valuable you know, perhaps more valuable than shipments of the resources which we have found."

"How so?" The navigator came him a superior look.

"Consider it Theobald. We are the only ones who know how to reach these worlds and their resources. Well, us and these charts. There are many who can wan will pay large amounts of money or other favors for them. That is something to remember Theobald, knowledge is power, but it is also profit.

"Every time we travel into the unknown we can profit. Even if we don't discover something of value people will pay for charts which show areas to avoid. We may not find worlds rich in resources or piles of archeotech, but we will always have new knowledge and knowledge sells."

Fortunately the voyage back to Tellus was both quicker and easier thanks to the updated charts which allowed Neall to chart the best rout to their destination, exiting the Warp on the edge of the Tellus system. As they made their way towards the planet itself Traggat, who was manning the vox station and Atmore, who was manning the augers, both called for Theobald's attention.

"My lord," Atmore stated; "We are being approached by a ship coming from the planet." Tragget chimed in.

"They are hailing us." Theobald rose and turned to address Atmore.

"Can you identify the ship?" Atmore nodded his head.

"Yes my lord. It is the Ambition-class Cruiser, the _Flame of Judgement._ " Traggat spoke again.

"Inquisitor Vola is aboard the _Flame of Judgment_ and requests that you join him there."Theobald nodded his acknowledgement. Declining both Longwood and Rolf's offers to accompany him he boarded his Arvus Lighter and headed over to the _Flame of Judgement._

He was not sure what to expect when he boarded the ship, but it was not a virtually empty bay. For a moment Theobald wondered if they even knew he was there and then he saw that there was indeed someone to meet him. It was a man of medium height with a shaved head and clad in a worn trench coat. He wore a rebreather which covered the lower half of his face and sported a pair of tubes which ran back to a tank on his back and his eyes had the look of a long-time drug user, a fact which made Theobald look rather uneasily at the Hellgun the man held in his hands. The man did not speak, merely indicated that Theobald should follow him.

They made their way through the corridors of the ship, occasionally taking an elevator to another level. As they walked Theobald noted that while there were people in key positions, from what he could see the majority of the crew consisted of servitors. At last they came to a hatch sealed with a coded lock. The man went to a key pad and tapped in a code, keeping his back to Theobald, ensuring that he could not see the code. When he finished the hatch hissed open and the man stepped aside to allow Theobald to enter. Theobald was not sure what to expect when he went through the hatch, but what he saw was not it.

It was a large space which resembled nothing so much as one of the drawing rooms of the governor's palace back on Wayfarer's Haven. The walls were covered with wood paneling and hung with a number of paintings. Much of the floor was covered by a thick carpet woven of a material which Theobald did not recognize. Along the walls were several shelfs covered with books and it took some effort on Theobald's part not to go over and examine them. There were several chairs around an artificial fireplace and there was also a small table upon which was a crystal decanter and several glasses of the same material. At the back of a room was a large desk, seated behind which was Inquisitor Vola. He was looking at a pad, but glanced up as soon as Theobald entered the room.

"Ah, how good of you to come so quickly. Please sit." He said as he indicated a chair in front of the desk. Theobald walked to it and sat down, noting in passing as the door shut that his guide had remained outside.

"Will you take some wine?" Vola asked, indicating the decanter. At Theobald's nod of agreement Vola snapped his fingers. This caused a servitor in the corner which Theobald had not noticed before came forward, poured drinks and offered them to the two men, it was a little bitter for Theobald's taste, but he said nothing. After taking a sip of his wine Vola began to speak.

"I am pleased to hear that your voyage was successful, as I predicted that it would be and I am sure that there will be many more in the future. But now for the present. I am sure that you wish to know why I summoned you." From Chief Astropath Carilli Theobald had some idea what the conversation was going to be about, but chose to put on an air of polite interest.

"I presume that you are going to tell me." Vola smiled in a way which was not quite friendly.

"Indeed I am. There is a matter which I find myself in need of your assistance. Normally I would deal with the matter myself; however, matters require my attention elsewhere and so I find myself in need of your assistance." Theobald found that last part a bit odd. He could believe that Vola was called elsewhere, but he had a hard time believing that the man had no other agents which he could send. The Inquisition had always been portrayed as having eyes everywhere and looking at the ship they were on it did not appear as if Vola was a man of scarce resources. Something of thoughts must have appeared on his face as Vola smiled in a self-deprecating manner.

"Naturally I have a number of agents which I would normally send, but this is a special case. You see Sabinianus knows most of them and so employing them would not be viable."

"Sabinianus?" Theobald asked.

"Ah yes, forgive me. Sabinianus Homsey, a rather unpleasant heretic. He recently stole something of great value and fled to the Hive World of Necromunda with it. I need you to find him and recover the item in question."

"Well I hope the matter is not too urgent while I spend the three or four millennium it will take me to search the world for the individual in question." Theobald had spoken without thinking and felt a chill run through him as he realized what he had just said and to whom he had said it to. A chill which intensified at the look that Vola gave him.

"Fortunately," he said in a dry tone of voice; "You will not require such a large amount of time. A good thing as it is rather important matter.

"I have contacts on the capital hive city of the planet, Hive Primus. In addition to being the capital it also has the planet's only space port. My information tells me that Homsey arrived there, but never left the hive."

"If you know that he is there, why not simply have the governor send his enforcers to take care of Homsey?"

"Gerontius Helmawr is an acceptable governor, in his own way. However; this is not a matter that I wish him to be involved in. So, again, it is up to you. Do bear in mind that I am aware that this mission is costing you time and money and I can be very generous to those who help me in my Emperor-appointed mission to defend the Imperium." His tone and expression both became hard and cold.

"I also remember those who put their own desires before their duty to aid in the defense of the Imperium." Seeing that he had no way out Theobald sighed.

"I shall leave immediately, though it will still take some time to search the hive." Vola smiled.

"That's the spirit my boy and don't worry, there are several things I can give to aid you in your quest. As I said I have contacts in Hive Primus, the most important of these is Nemo the Faceless, a member of Clan House Delaque. A word of advice, he does not enjoy having his name bandied about so don't go looking for him. He knows you are coming and will seek you out. Now for the other assistance I can give you, come." With that he rose and left the room, Theobald following behind.

They walked down a passageway and took an elevator down one level, the doors opened and Theobald found himself in what appeared to be a shrine to the Omnissiah. Everywhere were tools and devices, the functions of which Theobald could not begin to guess. A number of tech-priests moved about the room and the area was full of both chanting and the smell of incense. One of them approached and nodded his, or her there was not enough flesh left for Theobald to tell, their head.

"Inquisitor." The tech-priest said in voice totally devoid of emotions.

"Are they ready?" Vola asked.

"By the will of the Omnissiah they are." The tech-priest said and indicated three servitors who just came up.

They were clearly designed for combat, two of them had had their right arms replaced with heavy bolters, while the third had a heavy flamer. All three had had their left hands replaced with chainswords, their eyes had been replaced by targeting visors and bulges under their skin suggested that armor had been implanted there. It was their lower halves; however, which drew the most attention. From the heads down they were normal, except for their arms, from the waist down they were completely different. Their legs were gone and had been replaced with eight mechanical legs that looked like the legs of spiders, the tips of which were equipped with retractable hooks.

"Quite impressive, aren't they? They are specifically designed for urban combat, able to maneuver through the uneven terrain of the lower levels of the hive. Their designated UCS 1, UCS 2 and UCS 3."

"UCS?" Theobald asked.

"Urban Combat Servitor." Vola replied.

"Consider them a gift to you, I told you I can be generous."

The voyage to Necromunda was also uneventful and Theobald spent much of the time reviewing what information he had on Hive Primus. It seemed that, like many worlds of the Imperium, it was ruled by an established aristocracy. In the case of Necromunda these could be roughly divided into two groups: the Great Houses and the Clan Houses. The Great Houses controlled the hive's commerce, both with the wider Imperium and with the other hives of the world while the Clan Houses controlled the actual manufacturing facilities of the Hive City. While all Hive Cities had a problem with gang violence Necromunda appeared to have it even worse, in fact it appeared that the world was quite infamous for it. Looking at the information Theobald realized that there would be additional problems in his search. In addition to finding Homsey he would have to find a way to avoid to all the fighting as well.

They emerged from the Warp on the edge of the Necromundan system and made their way towards the planet itself. Their presence was noted by picket ships, but they were not challenged. It was not till they reached the planet that they found themselves challenged. It was not the planet itself which hailed them, but a star fortress which hung in orbit above the planet. Traggat again summoned Theobald's attention.

"My lord, the star fort is hailing us." Theobald acknowledged this and moved to the vox station as an authoritative and aristocratic voice came over the vox.

"This is Baldo Helmawr, Lord of the Eye of Selene and Warden of Necromunda, to the warship approaching the planet. Identify yourself or face destruction." While the words were melodramatic in nature, the wrecks of ships floating in orbit showed that the man was not bluffing. Theobald took the vox and responded.

"Eye of Selene, this is Theobald Traub, rogue trader and master of the _Adventurer._ " There was silence for several minutes before there was a response.

" _Adventurer,_ you are cleared to approach and make landing." Theobald acknowledge and began making preparations to land.

Accompanied by Rolf and Longwood he boarded the Arvus Lighter and they set off for the planet. They descended through the atmosphere and, following the instructions they were given they made their way towards the space port. Landing they watched the hatch open. As it did a blast of heavily polluted struck them and both Rolf and Longwood started to cough heavily.

"Gods!" Rolf hacked out; "What is that horrid smell!" Longwood, also coughing nodded his agreement.

"Smells like something died, or rather a lot of somethings!" Even Theobald had to take a moment to adjust to the air. It had been some time since he had been on a Hive World and even then Haven's air was not nearly as polluted as the air of Necromunda was. Indeed, he had read that there was a permanent cloud of pollution below them. Additionally, they were much higher up than he was used to and the air, in addition to being polluted, was colder and thinner. He waited a few minutes for them to get their breathing under control and then they left the craft.

They were immediately confronted by a squad of a dozen soldiers and at their head was a man whom Theobald to be the governor himself. He wore a suit of clothing which was made of material of multiple colors and a large quantity of gold braids. To top it all off he had on his head a massive wig of curled hair white hair and what like silver wire. Theobald was surprised, he knew that visits by rogue traders were usually a major event, but he had not thought that the governor of a Hive World, especially one as large, wealthy and important as Necromunda. The party stopped before Theobald and his own group and the man spoke.

"You are the rogue trader Theobald Traub?" Trying not let his surprise show he merely nodded in what he hoped was a dignified manner. He was grateful that he had not said anything as the man spoke again.

"I am Ansgar Bakke, majordomo to Gerontius Helmawr, lord and protector of Necromunda. He has extended his invitation to call upon him." Theobald guessed that the invitation was more of a command. This, combined with the embarrassment he was still feeling from his earlier mistake about the man's identity, was beginning to annoy him.

He was a rogue trader! A peer of the realm! On equal standing with any planetary governor, including Helmawr! Still, he thought as he forced himself to be calm, they may be equals, but Helmawr held all the advantages here and if the search took as long as he feared that it might be it would be far better to have the governor on his side than to have him be antagonistic. Thus he nodded once again and followed the man, the soldiers forming up on both sides of him.

They were led to three aircars: Theobald, his companions and Bakke got into one while the soldiers got into the other two. Once everyone was seated the vehicles took off. This was the first time Theobald had been in an aircar and he found himself shaking slightly, though nowhere near as much as Rolf and Longwood were and he suppressed the urge to grab the side to the aircar in an effort to gain a feeling of stability. He had been in aircraft before, but this seemed different, less secure and all he could do was pray that the machine-spirit of the vehicle had been properly appeased. To distract himself he looked out at the massive spires of Hive Primus. It dwarfed anything he had seen before he had thought where he grew up was a hive city, but in truth it was naught but a country village by comparison. They rose higher and higher till he felt the air grow cold and the air seem to thin. At last the reached their destination, the tallest spire in which the entire palace back on Haven could have been placed with room to space. They landed and were led inside.

Once inside Theobald saw that not only was this palace larger than the one on Haven, but was also far grander, indeed by comparison the one on Haven had been a glorified peasant's hovel. There were pillars of marble shot through with gold. Windows taller than a man depicting saints and what Theobald assumed were sense from the world's history. Statues, busts and paintings of men and women in regal regalia lined the walls as well and seemed to regard the passers-by with looks of faint derision. At last they came to a pair of ornate gilded doors guarded by men in elaborate uniforms and armed with weapons which appeared to be more ceremonial than practical snapped to attention and opened the doors.

The space beyond was a vast hall held up by more pillars and divided in the middle by a deep green carpet fringed with gold thread. People in elaborate dress lined both sides of the carpet. They all turned to regard Theobald as if they could not determine whether or not he was an asset or an enemy. Theobald's; however, were drawn to the back of the room. There, on a raised dais and seated on a cushioned throne surrounded by incense-burning braziers was a man who could only be Lord Helmawr.

He bore some resemblance to the people in the artwork, but only just. They had all had strong features, the Governor, on the other hand had features which were anything but strong. He had a small chin and mouth and rather large cheeks. A shaggy unibrow hung above a pair of small eyes. If he was physically unimpressive, his attire was, to Theobald's eyes, garish. It appeared to be modeled after a military uniform, though far more elaborate, with many colors and patterns woven into the material and with overly-large epaulets. On his balding head was a gilded laurel wreath. Hovering above his shoulder was a Cherubim with a vaguely sinister appearance to it. As Bakke announced Theobald the Governor rose slightly and gestured languidly for him to approach.

As he drew closer Theobald saw that he had misjudged Helmawr. The eyes were small, but now he could see that they were shrewd. Indeed, Theobald suspected that much of the languidness of the man was an act. He halted at the foot of the dais he halted and gave a bow, though he made sure that it was not too deep. He wanted to show respect, but not undo deference. For a moment Helmawr regarded him and then he began to speak.

"I welcome you to Necromunda, Theobald of House Traub. What brings you to this world?" Theobald took a moment, both to gather his thoughts and to calm his nerves one last time.

"My lord," he began at last; "First, allow me to thank you for granting me this audience. As to the reasons for my coming here. It is well-known that this world has many secrets in its lower levels, many of which hold the potential for great profit for those of an adventurous nature. I have such a nature and as my house is a young one I decided to try my luck." This was the story Vola had told him to use, as it was reasonable and the Inquisitor did not want Theobald's true purpose to be known. Helmawr smiled in a manner which Theobald could not quite understand.

"Ah, a treasure hunter. Very well, you have my permission to descend to the lower levels and I wish you the best of fortune and may the God-emperor protect you." With that it was clear that the audience was over and Theobald turned to go. As he went he saw that people appeared to be losing interest in him as he was seen as a mere treasure hunter, or at least they were going out of their way to give that impression.

Once he had left the palace he collected the servitors, which made both Rolf and Longwood nervous, put on some heavy armor and clothing more appropriate for the Underhive they made their way downward. First, they passed through the Spire, home of the Great Houses. Here things were well-maintained and there were many fine dwellings, ranging from mansions to whole offshoot spires, some which were almost as big as his ship. There were wide open spaces and lush gardens filled with plants which had clearly been imported from off-world.

As they descended; however, things began to change. While still grand and clean it seemed that the farther down they went the smaller and less appealing things became. They came to an area which was totally empty, as if they were in an area which no one wished to inhabit. At last they came to a massive barrier guarded by Enforcers. Theobald thought that he and his party would be stopped, but they were not, it seemed that the guards were only interested in making sure that people did not come up from below. Once they were beyond the barrier Theobald saw why.

The differences were starch and clear to see. Here were the factories and the living quarters of those who worked in them. They were all cramped together and the air and lighting were far worse than those which had been above. The people were clearly of a far lower station than those in the Spire. Their clothing was mostly the drab, heavy-duty clothing of factory workers. The people regarded Theobald and his party warily and they all gave them a wide berth, with one exception. A group of men emerged, seemingly from the shadows and placed themselves in Theobald's path.

Their appearances was uniform, shaved heads, goggles and long trench coats. They halted a few feet from them and the leader stepped up till he was almost touching, Rolf and Longwood both tensed, hands reaching for weapons. This caused the members of group confronting them to also move their hands towards concealed weapons, which in turn caused the servitors to move into combat stances. Theobald forced himself to remain calm and focus on the man in front of him, who also ignored the potential battle around them.

"You are the rogue trader Theobald Traub." The man said in a voice like a hiss, it had not been a question. Not seeing any point in denying it Theobald nodded.

"I fear that I do not have your name."

"I did not give one. Come, you are expected." With that he motioned for Theobald to follow.

The man led them through a series of passages and soon Theobald was hopelessly lost, though he got the impression that they were headed downward. He was slightly disturbed that he was not as skilled at maneuvering in a hive as he thought that he was, bit was determined not to let it show. Abruptly they came to what appeared to be a warehouse of some sort. Entering it they found themselves in a space, empty save for crates and old pieces of machinery, so filthy and rusted that their original functions could only be guessed at. What focused his attention; however, was the man in the center of building.

He was a tall man, though shorter than Theobald's own height. He was clad in a long coat, a sort of breastplate and boots and trousers. It was the mask though, which drew Theobald's attention. It was actually more of a helmet, covering his entire head with several tubes running from it to places Theobald could not see. It was molded to a human face, with a nose, cheeks and eye places, but there were no individual features, it was like looking at the face of mannequin, the sight of it made Theobald shudder.

+Theobald Traub+ he spoke in a mechanized voice from speakers in the helmet. Theobald nodded.

+Our mutual acquaintance informed me of your coming and the information that you require+ The man took a data slate from his coat and handed it to Theobald.

Theobald activated it and looked at the screen. On it was the face of a man who looked to be in his seventies. He had long grey hair unbound and hung about his head in a wild mass. His right eye had been replaced by an augment.

+That is Sabinianus Homsey, the man that you have been sent to hunt. I tracked his trail till he moved into the Underhive. He can tell you he went to Hope's End, one of the many settlements of the Underhive, where he went from there, I cannot say for certain+

"Well, that narrows it a bit. I suppose that I should be going then, hopefully I can find some clues about where he went. He turned to go, but Nemo called him back.

+There is one other thing I can do for you.

+Recently my associates had a minor disagreement with Chem Queens, a gang of House Eschcer, who operated near Hope's End. They were defeated and scattered and their territory claimed by others. We took one of them prisoner, but she did not know anything of value. We were intending to sell her to the Guilds, who always need more laborers. She knows the area and could prove useful as a guide. I believe she could be of use to you. So I am giving her to you+

"How generous of you." Theobald replied.

+It is not generosity. It is a favor, a favor that you will repay in the future+ He turned and departed, leaving only a few members of his group behind.

"Come with us." One of them said.

They were led through more corridors and passageways and elevators, again going down. At last they arrived at a compound of some kind. It was well fortified and guarded by more of what Theobald assumed were more of House Delaque gang members. They were led inside and down to a basement level which was clearly being used as a prison, with a number of small cells, all of which were empty save for one. In one of them was a girl, Theobald guessed her to be around seventeen Terran years old.

She was a little shorter than Longwood with skin which was unhealthily pale from lack of natural light. Her eyes were brown, but what was most unusual thing about her was her hair. It was shaved to form a mohawk, except for the back which fell down her back in long dreadlocks. She looked up as they approached, her eyes flashing with hostility.

"Who the frak are you?" She looked them up and down and sneered.

"You ain't Delaque, too much hair." Theobald put on what he hoped was a winning smile.

"You're right the name's Theobald Traub an…" That was as far as he got before she interrupted.

"I don't care what you are! You're here which means you're either a lacky of those motherless Delaque, or they are allies or clients of yours. Whatever, you're an enemy of House Eschcer and the Chem Queens. So do your worse, I'll tell you nothing." Behind him Theobald thought he heard Rolf snort. Looking back he gave the man a look and then turned back to look at the girl. Deciding to change tactics he put on a serious look and turned back to her.

"Now listen here. I don't care if you won't tell me anything, because it does not matter. The Chem Queens are gone and you know that and the fact that no one is coming for you. Now you have two options: I leave you here and the Delaque and they sell you to the Guild." In truth he had no idea what that entailed, but from the look on her face it was not pleasant.

"Option two: you help me, I get you out of here and afterwards we part company. What will it be?" She looked at him; not wanting to cooperate, but clearly scared of the Guild. At last she scowled and nodded.

"Fine. What do you need?"

"I am hunting a man. I have heard that he spent time in Hope's End and that you are familiar with the area. You help me find the man and that's all I ask." She shrugged.

"You just need me to scrag the guy? No problem. So, you gonna get me out of here or what?" He nodded and turned to the guard, who had been waiting by the door.

"She'll be leaving with me." The man nodded and came down to the cell. He unlocked the door and she walked out. She turned to Theobald.

"How about my gear Boss-man?" He looked at the guard. He shrugged and indicated for them to follow. As they moved after him Theobald turned to the girl.

"Since we are to work together it might be helpful if you were to tell me your name." She flashed a proud smile and puffed out her chest.

"Call me Silver. Slicing Silver." On hearing this Longwood snorted.

"'Slicing Silver'?" She gave him a dirty look.

"Yea, 'Slicing Silver' you scavvy lover! Vega, head of the Chem Queens, said I was a natural with a stiletto sword and all good swordswomen have nicknames." Theobald simply nodded.

They came into a room which looked like an armory, filled with weapons and armor. It looked different from the equipment that he had seen the Delaque members had, looking more colorful and delicate. The guard turned to look at them.

"Take what you want. Most of it isn't that good quality and we won't make much by selling it anyway." Silver growled at him, but Theobald cleared his throat and she quitted down. She immediately began going through all the gear, examining all of it and picking what she wanted. She took a sword and dagger pair, both the hand guards of which were edged with a shiny material. She also claimed a laspistol, a rifle with an unusually thin barrel and several grenades and a mask, handing several of these to the others as well. She looked, in Theobald's opinion, like a child on Emperor's Day opening their presents. Once she finished selecting her gear the men gave her some privacy to quickly change.

It was a most unusual outfit in some ways. For the most part nothing stood out, black boots and trousers. It was the upper part which stood out. She wore chest armor which only went down halfway down her torso, leaving her stomach exposed. She had apparently gotten her hands on some paint and had painted green and yellow stripes on her face. She had also dyed her hair red and purple and had a spiked collar around her neck. Looking at her Rolf snorted.

"Are you going into battle or to a mating dance?" Quick as flash the knife appeared as if from nowhere and it was pressed against his groin.

"One more remark and you'll lose all interest in them." Rolf; however, had reacted just as fast. His axe was in his hand and pressed against her throat. Almost as quickly Longwood's pistols had appeared in his hands and were aimed at her as well. Annoyed and wondering if he had made a mistake, Theobald made an annoyed sound which caught all of their attention. Once they were all looking at him he schooled his face into an expression which left no doubt what the state of his emotions.

"We. Are. All. Working. Together." He said, saying each word slowly and making sure to pronounce each one and using the same sort of tone which he had used back on Haven when members of the guerillas had fought with one another when the stress became overwhelming

"If we keep this up we are all going to die and I'll be damned if I let your inability to work together kill me. Meaning I will be perfectly willing to put a lasbolt in the brainpan of any of you who do that." He spoke in a tone which left them with no doubt as to his sincerity and they all quitted down. He turned to address the Delaque guard, who was looking on with amusement.

"We are ready to go." With that they left the facility.

With Silver at their head they continued to make their way downward. It seemed that the deeper they went the worse it became. They did not take a direct rout. Silver insisted that this was necessary in order to avoid entering the territory of other Clan Houses, who would react violently to people entering their territory without permission. Eventually ruins and dilapidated buildings became the majority and she informed them that they were approaching the Underhive proper. It was even worse then the Ruins, much worse.

It was an endless array of pipes and collapsed buildings, yet strangely open in other areas. The base of the layers above them was so far up Theobald could not always see it, intermittent lumin globes hanging high above like miniature suns. He had the feeling of being in and outside at the same time. It was clear that both Rolf and Longwood were not comfortable, while Silver seemed to be perfectly at home there. There were people everywhere, but they gave Theobald and his party no trouble, the heavily armed servitors and the numerous weapons which they were carrying apparently enough to discourage anyone from bothering them. They made their way towards Hope's End, a medium-sized settlement made primarily of salvaged material and old prefabricated hab units and the entire thing surrounded by a wall of metal slabs with a gate cut into. There were guards, rough looking men armed with autoguns, but these gave them no trouble as they entered the town, though they eyed them suspiciously.

"Alright." Longwood said, his tone showing his disgust at the poverty and squalor about them clearly.

"How do we find this Homsey fellow?" Silver looked over at him as she spoke.

"Old Hob."

"Who's Hob?" Theobald asked.

"Everyone knows Hob. He owns Hob's Hellhole, the best bar in Hope's End." She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Probably has something to do with it being the only bar in Hope's End. Anyway, he knows everyone's business. If you have a few credits he can tell you anything you want to know. If this Homsey has been through here Hob will know." Fortunately money would not be an issue as while they had been waiting for the servitors Theobald had been able to exchange some of the resources for currency called Guilder Credits. He had been able to secure quite a few of them and so he did not anticipate having any trouble paying for the information.

They made their way through the settlement, ignoring the beggars who approached them. They finally reached Hob's Hellhole, a dilapidated building consisting of corrugated metal welded together. Entering the bar Theobald saw that it consisted of a single room illuminated by a single lumin globe hung from ceiling. There were some old and battered tables and chairs scattered haphazardly about the room. In the back was bar behind which was a short, fat man, balding and with an impressive number of boils and other skin conditions which Theobald did not want to contemplate. Silver walked right up to him.

"Hob, how's it slumming?" He looked at her and his watery eyes bulged. For a moment Theobald wondered why the man was so surprised to see her and then he realized that the man was not looking at Silver, but at him. Rolf seemed to have realized the same thing as he was bringing up the shotgun was turning to face something.

Following his bodyguard's gaze Theobald realized that handful of men in the bar were all rising and drawing weapons. He ripped out his own weapon while calling out a warning to the others. He focused on a skinny man, bare arms covered with tattoos, was bringing up a battered-looking autopistol. Theobald's first shot was off because he was still bringing his laspistol up, but it did cause the man to flinch. This gave Theobald time to bring his weapon up and put two shots into his chest. As the man went down he took the opportunity to look around and take in the situation. Rolf had dispatched one with his shotgun while Longwood simultaneously dealt with two at once. Silver had her sword and dagger out, but all their attackers were down. Theobald was about to demand to know what was going on when the door behind him was completely ripped off.

Standing in the doorframe was a man so heavily augmented that at first Theobald thought the man was a servitor, but then the man's face twisted into an expression of eagerness and he turned back to a crowd of men and women behind him. He looked about to yell something to them, but before he could the UCSs reacted. UCSs 1 and 2 opened up with their heavy bolters, tearing the man to pieces. As he fell UCS 3 moved forward, bullets and las rounds striking him but failing to penetrate its armor, and loosed a blast from its flamer. Shouts and screams came from outside and the fire slacked off, but did not cease.

"What in the Warp is going on?!" Theobald demanded as he threw himself into cover. Silver threw herself against the wall near the door.

"Not a clue Boss-man. Hold on." She took a grenade from her belt and held up her mask.

"I'd put mine on Boss-man." Theobald did so, yelling to the others to do the same. As soon as her mask was on she activated the grenade and threw it. Theobald was expected it to explode, as the crude grenade the Orks had use, instead there was a pop and a hissing sound. Looking out Theobald saw that the streets were filling with a green mist and those who did not get away from it were falling to the ground chocking. Soon all of these lay still, obviously dead. Those who had escaped the gas had fled as there was no more fire directed at them. After a moment they all rose from where they had all taken shelter.

"HOB! WHAT THE SCRAG IS GOING ON YOU SCAVVY-HUMPER!?" Silver screamed as she advanced on the cowering man. Longwood, who had been crouching next to one of the bodies rose, a piece of paper in his hand.

"I think that this may have something to do with it." He said as he held it out to Theobald. He took it and looked down at it.

On the top of it the word WANTED was written in bold letters. Below this was a crude drawing of Theobald and below the picture it was stated that a reward of two thousand Guilder Credits was offered to whomever killed him. Theobald sighed, things had just become more complicated, a lot more complicated.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope you like it. I am sorry if the description of the hive wasn't that good. Let me know what you think, I have all sorts of fun planned for him. Till then please pray for a missing girl in my area, Asia Bibi, who is still threatened for her faith and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, thanks for reading, as always I own nothing.**

Theobald went over to where it appeared that Silver was attempting to strangle Hob, the man was struggling in her grip, but it did not appear to be doing him any good. Theobald walked up to them and thrust the bounty poster in the man's face, grabbing the man's chin and forcing him to look at it. He wanted to shout at the man like Silver was doing, but from her lack of success, he guessed that that would not work. Thus, he forced himself to be calm and keep his voice level when he spoke, while at the same time he motioned for Silver to cease her tirade.

"Who posted the bounty on me?" Hob, clearly rattled by the firefight and Silver's rage, turned with an almost grateful look towards Theobald.

"I don't know!" He declared in a voice which managed to be both high and whining, in truth the man sounded on the verge of breaking.

"All I know is that it were the Guilders that did it. Them posters just started appearing." Theobald looked at the man and then Silver in confusion.

"The Guilders? Who are they and why would they put a bounty on me? I haven't done anything to them that I know of." Silver looked at him as if he was some kind of half-wit.

"You don't know who the Guilders are?! They pretty much control all the trade in the Underhive, even the Houses don't dare to mess with them. They want you dead, you're dead." Rolf spoke up.

"But like the chief said, we haven't done anything to warrant their wrath." As was speaking Longwood was looking at the pamphlet. After a moment he pointed to some writing at the bottom of the poster.

"Payment to be made by Guild Magistrate Donat Romanovros." At the name Silver spat.

"Romanovros! Should have known that damned Sump-rat would be involved!" Theobald, becoming annoyed at this constant stream of people whom he knew nothing about demanded to know who Romanovros was.

"He's the Guild Magistrate over at Prosperity Wells, a settlement not far from here. It's an open secret that he is corrupt and for a few creds he'll put out a bounty from the Guild on anyone. The rest of the Guild doesn't care as long as he doesn't do it to anyone of importance.

"The good thing is the Guild won't come after you, as it is not an official Guild bounty, but every two-bit bounty hunter in the Hive is going to be gunning for you."

"All of them?" Longwood asked, sounding half-skeptical and half-fearful that she was telling the truth. She nodded glumly.

"The money's good and since we just showed that we're a threat taking us down will boost the rep of anyone who does it." Theobald cursed and kicked a shot-up chair. Feeling a little better he turned his attention back to Hob, the picture of Homsey in his hand.

"Have you seen this man?" Seeing that the man was still having difficulty focusing he changed tactic.

"The sooner we know where he has gone the sooner we're gone." That seemed to focus the man and after a moment he spoke again.

"Further down. I heard he was going farther down. That's all I know! I swear on the Aquila! The second half of his statement was almost shouted as his panic returned. Seeing that they would not learn any more from the man Theobald signaled for them to leave the bar. As soon as they were outside Silver began to move away from them.

"See ya boss-man, I didn't sign up to be in the sights of a Guilder Magistrate and his hired thugs." Rolf spluttered with outrage, but before he could say anything Longwood cut him off.

"Let her go, if she wants to take on the bounty hunters by herself then let her, she'll make a good distraction for us." She stopped and stared at him.

"What are you talking about? Their after the boss-man, not me!" Longwood nodded in a judicious manner.

"Yes, but the ones who got away may have seen you with us and you did kill most of them they may get the impression that you are still with us and come looking for you. Perhaps the rest of these…Eschar will take a marked girl in and risk any potential trouble." Silver had stopped in her tracks and had a worried look on her face, Theobald guessed that she was less than certain that their generosity would extend to taking in someone with a target on her back. After a moment she seemed to make up her mind and made her way back to them. Rolf smirked, while Theobald did not comment. He chose instead to focus on the matter at hand.

"Hob said that Homsey went further down. What do you think that means?"

"Could mean several things. He could have gone somewhere in the Underhive, or he could have gone to the Sump below the Underhive." Longwood made a sound of disgust and frustration.

"He could be anywhere in this hole." He declared. Rolf looked thoughtful for a moment and then he spoke.

"This magistrate, it is likely that it was this Homsey who bribed him to place the bounty. Could we not try to force him to tell us where he went?" Silver was already shaking her head.

"Not a good idea big man. He's a Guilder, you mess with them and they all come after you."

"Aren't they already after us?" Theobald asked archly.

"Nah, the bounty is not, but not enough to bring all the really good bounty hunters from far off and the ones who work exclusively for the Guilds aren't gunning for you now, but they will be if you mess with the Guild.

"Besides, the man you are after would not have to tell Romanovros where he was going and he would not have cared. He would just have sure that Homsey, or whatever, had give him enough money to place the bounty on you." After that they all stood there for a moment, trying to decide what to do. At last Longwood spoke.

"Well Boss, I doubt that Homsey would stay in Prosperity Wells and he doesn't appear to be here either. So we have to ask ourselves where he would go." Silver looked at him.

"You talk like a bounty hunter Shorty." He growled at the name, but otherwise ignored it and continued talking.

"Since it sounds as if Homsey is new to this world it is unlikely that he would go to this Sump. It is more likely that he will stay in the various settlements." He turned to look at Silver.

"Do you think that he might stay in Prosperity Wells? If he has the local magistrate in his pocket he might feel safe there." Silver was again shaking her head, a doubtful look on her face.

"I doubt it. Romanovros might take the occasional bribe, but he doesn't tolerate any potential troublemakers in the settlement. He'd have taken the bribe and placed the bounty on you and then he would have this Homsey fellow leave Prosperity Wells and stay away."

"Alright, then where would he go?" Theobald asked, as much to himself as to those around him.

"If he is afraid of us enough to attempt to hire killers to come after us then he would likely hire men to protect him." Rolf said, he then too addressed Silver.

"Where would he go to hire such men?" She just laughed at him, an incredulous look on her face.

"This is the Underhive Big Man, every man, woman and child down here has a weapon of some kind and if you don't know how to use it you're dead. All he would have to do would be to flash a few creds anywhere and he can have all the hired guns he wants." Theobald sighed.

"Well that's not very helpful." There followed another short period of silence before Theobald spoke again.

"If the magistrate won't let him stay in Prosperity Wells, what is the closest settlement to it?"

"Deadman's Pit."

"Charming." Longwood said. Silver ignored him and kept talking.

"It's along a trade route between Prosperity Wells and several other settlements. Because whoever controls it can tax the caravans various gangs are always fighting over control of the settlement."

"Sounds like the sort of place which someone wanting to lay low would go." Rolf commented.

"Actually it's not that bad an idea." Longwood said.

"If you want to be unnoticed, then you go where everyone is too busy dogging bullets to care about a strange face. Plus, he might figure that even if someone knew he had gone there they might be hesitant to go into such a dangerous place." Silver appeared to agree and gave Theobald a look of clear displeasure.

"We are going there aren't we Boss-man?" Theobald nodded, his mind going to a certain inquisitor.

"Trust me," he said addressing all of them; "It would be far more dangerous not to try to find the man."

They made their way through the settlement, the guards at the gate making no effort to halt their progress.

Once outside of the settlement they found themselves once again in a maze of tunnels, ruins and empty spaces so wide that Theobald had to remind himself that he was still inside a city. The light emitters were poorly maintained and infrequent and they were often in total darkness save for the lights which they had brought themselves. Though they saw no one else they were assaulted by constant sounds which echoed up and down the tunnels and was impossible to trace where the sounds came from. These sounds ranged from vermin moving about to what Theobald suspected were humans, or things which had once been human. While he spent some time in similar environments while fighting in the Ruins and Silver was, naturally, quite at home in it; Rolf and Longwood were not. They were visibly on edge, jumping at shadows and sudden noises and Theobald had to stop them several times from firing at nothing, much to Silver's amusement.

At last the tunnel that they were moving through, all of them slightly damp from fluids, whose source Theobald did not want to contemplate, dripping down on them. Before them lay another settlement, one which appeared quite a bit larger than the one that they had left behind. It too boasted walls and above the gate Theobald could see that a heavy stubber had been set up to cover the approach to the gates. Theobald half expected to be fired on as they approached, but the gun remained silent and they were permitted, after paying a fee to be allowed in.

After hearing what the town was like from Silver Theobald had expected to walk into a firefight, but the streets were quiet and there were few people on the street. Indeed, the town seemed almost abandoned. He was not the only one made nervous by the silence. Silver was looking around, hands on her weapons. Her nervousness was picked up on by Rolf and Longwood, who were soon mimicking her motions with their weapons. Theobald turned to talk to Silver.

"What is going on? Has the place been abandoned?" She shook her head.

"No. It gets like this when they know that two or more of the gangs are about to go at it. Everyone not involved get off the street till the shooting stops." Longwood sighed.

"Get into town just as a firefight breaks out. You sure have great timing Boss." Before he could respond a lasbolt struck the wall next to Theobald's head.

As Theobald and the others dove for cover the UCSs began tracking, attempting to locate the source of the shot, they did not have to look far. Coming around a corner and heading down the street towards them was a gaggle of people, mostly men but also a few women. They all wore robes of various shades of red, cut in a manner which made Theobald think of those worn by some monastic orders and they also wore masks which made their faces seem sinister, almost demonic in some ways. Many of the hoods had yellow flames sown on them, while some of the hoods were tall and pointed. Of more immediate concern were the weapons in their hands.

Some wielded lasguns while others carried flamers and other heat-based weapons. Several forwent ranged weapons, instead wielding either large two-handed chainswords or normal chainswords in one hand while holding burning brands in the other. At the head of the group was a large man in more elaborate robes. He held a torch in a brazier in one hand and in the other a whip which crackled with electricity. His mask, unlike the others which looked leather, was made of black metal with devotional signs worked in gold across its surface. His beard, which was long, wild and a mixture of black and white, had burning rags tied in it. His hood was one of the tall pointed ones and on the front was a golden Aquila. He pointed ahead with the torch, his eyes wide and wild. He then screamed out in voice hors and full of fanaticism.

"THERE THEY ARE MY FLOCK! KILL THE HEATHEN MUTANTS IN THE EMPEROR'S NAME!"

"SCOURGE AND PURGE!" Those behind him cried out in one voice.

"Who in the name of the gods are these people?!" Rolf yelled out.

"Redemptionists!" Silver yelled back.

"Religious fanatics from House Cawdor!"

"Are they after us?" Rolf asked.

"No," Longwood, who was looking in the opposite direction said; "I think that their here for them." Following his gaze Theobald looked in the other direction. Coming down the street from the opposite direction was another group of people.

They were all male and were so large that for a moment he thought that they were Ogryns. They wore tight black pants, steel-toed boots, no shirts and numerous chains and shoulder pads and bracers with large spikes. They all sported mohawks and many had spikes driven into their heads and faces. Their weapons were as oversized as they were and many of them appeared to be tools which they had converted into weapons. Indeed, several of them looked like some form of construction equipment. Their leader was easy to identify as he stood at the head of the group and was even larger than the others. He was armed with a large revolver and a massive chainsword, the latter of which he pointed at the Redemptionists and bellowed.

"Who are they?!" Theobald demanded. Silver spat in disgust.

"Goliaths. A bunch of stem-addled morons. All men are stupid, but these louts make the rest of you look smart." Theobald was offended by that, but as the two groups were charging towards each other he had other things on his mind.

"Great job Boss," Longwood called to him; "You got us right in the middle of a gang-war!" In irritation Theobald turned to him.

"Do you have any helpful suggestions, or just criticism?!" Rolf answered for Longwood.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" This struck the others as quite sensible and they hurried to get out off of the street and out of the path of the two gangs.

Fortunately, while a few shots were aimed at them, the two groups seemed far more interested in each other than in Theobald and His group and they were able to make their way through a side passage and out immediate vicinity of the battle. Theobald ordered the party to move further on in an effort to move beyond the battle, which he was sure would not remain on that one street. Indeed, as they moved away the sound of battle continued to follow them. However; they had not gotten far when they heard the sounds of a third group approaching them. Cursing Theobald cast about looking for some place to avoid further confrontation, too late and a third group appeared. Some of them were on the street while other

It was a small group, maybe a dozen or so, and they were, if anything, even more bizarre than the first two groups. They were normal-sized and their clothing was far different. One woman was wearing what appeared to be a ball gown of blue silk, puffed sleeves and laces cut off at the knees to reveal a pair of thigh boots. She sported an elaborate wig and elaborate makeup. Of more concern was a lasrifle held in her arms.

Another one, this one a man, was clad in black books, purple silk pants, a sleeveless scarlet and gold doublet and an elaborate hat which sported several feathers. He was armed with a heavy stubber which he was using to spray the area in front of him without even attempting to aim his weapon. From the look on his face he appeared to be on some sort of drugs. The others were also richly, if bizarrely dressed, most of them were also showing signs of drug use.

"Oh, for the love of…" Theobald exclaimed before he was forced to dive for cover to avoid a hail of bullets from the stubber.

"WHO ARE THESE?!" He screamed at Silver.

"BRATS! RICH NOBS FROM THE SPIRE COME DOWN FOR A BIT OF FUN!"

"Chief!" Rolf called out. "I hate this place!"

"What he said!" Longwood said, as he drew his pistols and fired, dropping one of the Brats.

At that moment members of both the Goliaths and Redemptionists appeared, their battle having spilled out from the street where it had begun. At first Theobald thought that things were about to get worse, but he soon so that this could be to their advantage. The two groups were focused totally on one another and ignoring Theobald and the others. As for the Brats, they did not seem to care who they were shooting at as long as they had someone to shoot at. Thusly, they blasted away at the combatants, which had the wonderful effect of distracting them from Theobald and his party as well. At least for the most part.

Inevitably, some of the various groups saw them and attacked them. Rolf parried a blow from a Goliath's chainsword with his chainaxe, his muscles straining with the effort. Longwood was firing and reloading his pistols as fast as he could at knot of Redemptionists as they tried to take him down. He was, at least for the moment, managing to force them to keep their heads down. Silver, her face locked into an expression of contempt, fired her pistol and sliced with her sword at any Goliath which came near her. The UCSs moved around them in an effort to maintain a defensive perimeter.

Just then a bolt of blue energy shot past Theobald's head and struck UCS 2 full in the chest. Its chest simply dissolved and it collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Whipping his head around, attempting to track the source of the shot. Emerging from an alleyway was a Brat which Theobald had not seen before. He was of medium height and running to fat. His clothing looked as if it was intended to mimic the uniforms of the Imperial Navy and his face was covered with paint in bizarre patterns. Of more pressing concern to Theobald was the plasma pistol in the man's hand which he was aiming at Longwood's back.

Theobald snapped off a shot of his own at the man. It went wide, but it was close enough to force the man to take cover and abandon his efforts to shoot Longwood. Theobald took cover in anticipation of the man's counter-attack, which was not long in coming. A bolt of plasma shot past him to demolish the wall behind him. It was only a matter of time before the man simply used his superior weapon to destroy Theobald's cover and dispatch him, meaning that Theobald could not allow the firefight to drag on. He had to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Seeing that the plasma pistol took some time between each shot to recharge Theobald dashed forward, firing as he went to force the man to take cover himself and be unable to take aim. Theobald threw himself against a building as another bolt of plasma flew by him, feeling his skin singe from the heat as it passed. Theobald broke from cover and dashed forward, shooting as he went. Incredibly the man appeared to be charging towards Theobald himself, Theobald suspected that the man was, like some of his fellows, on some sort of drug which was clearly affecting his judgment. In addition to this it appeared that the man was becoming increasingly angry at his inability to hit Theobald and this too was affecting his aim.

As Theobald broke from cover again he found that he had made a mistake. The Brat had moved further than Theobald had realized and the distance had been significantly reduced. The man grinned, his bloodshot eyes wide giving him a crazed look. He brought his weapon up and aimed at Theobald's head. Before he could fire; however, UCS 1 opened up with its heavy bolter, tearing the man in half. His death seemed to dampen the others in his group's enthusiasm for continuing the fight and they began to break off from the fight, an act eased by the fact that they had been on the fringe of the fight. With them gone Theobald and his group were able to withdraw as well. However; before they left, Theobald stayed long enough to retrieve the Brat's plasma pistol, as well as the tooled leather holster and belt which he strapped to his own waist.

They quickly made their away from battle, the combatants losing interest int hem as soon as they left the vicinity. They moved through the deserted streets till they could no longer see the battle, though they could still hear it. They collapsed against the walls of the buildings around them, gasping for air and fighting down the shakes as the adrenalin wore off. After a few minutes Longwood spoke.

"In retrospect, deciding to come here might not have been such a good idea. I believe that Homsey did not come here." Rolf jerked his head towards Longwood.

"What he said. I think he would find too many distractions here for any pursuers to be safe."

"Your argument seems to be valid." Rolf chimed in. Neither Theobald nor Silver were inclined to argue and they quickly made their way to the nearest gate which Silver knew of, making sure that they kept several streets between them and the still-raging battle.

Once they were out of the town they paused to consider their options. For his part Theobald was becoming discouraged with a seemingly endless array of setbacks. For every step forward that they took they took two steps back. The Underhive was vast and it seemed that Homsey could be anywhere, if he was even still in the Underhive. He could have gone to another hive, or he could have left the planet for all Theobald knew. Even if he had done neither there were far too many places which the man could go inside the Underhive, or the Sump if the man wished to risk going there. Finally, no matter where they went there seemed to be nothing but peril, they had just lost one of their UCSs and they had gained nothing for that lose. If things continued this way then they would likely lose the others and then the people with him. Their supplies of food, ammunitions and the other essentials were not infinite and resupply could be difficult if things went on for a prolonged period of time. If something did not change soon he might have to decide either to continue to risk his life on a likely unobtainable goal, or depart and face the wrath of the Inquisition. Just as he was trying to consider what course of action to take next Rolf and Silver tensed reaching for their weapons. Theobald and all the others turned to face in the same direction.

Two men were approaching and they were the most bizarrely dressed men that Theobald had ever seen. They wore trousers and boots of some soft material and neither of them were wearing shirts. What stood out the most; however, was their headgear. Both of them were wearing what appeared to be the skins of giants rats. The heads serving as headgear while the rest of the skins fell down their backs.

One of the men was clearly older, he was also shorter and slighter of build. His bare chest was covered in paint in strange patterns and around his neck were numerous charms and fetishes made of an assortment of materials. The second man was taller and broader. He bore numerous tattoos and charms and slung across his back were a pair of blades. The material was clearly salvaged and it could not compare to the craftsmanship of weapons from the forges of the Mechanicus. However; from the symbols carved onto it and the way the man's hand seemed to be constantly subconsciously reaching for them that the blades were of great value to the man. While Theobald and the other men looked at the two newcomers with wary curiosity Silver snorted in derision.

"Who are you?" Theobald asked, making sure that his weapons were within easy reach. Silver snorted in contempt.

"I can tell you who they are, Ratskins. Weirdiess who live like scavvies and run like Sump rats whenever anyone comes near them." The larger of the two growled and made as if to draw his weapons, but his companion placed a hand on his wrist. The man then turned to address Theobald.

"I am Bruda Speaks-to-the-Spirits. My companion is the Totem Warrior Shakara-Seeks-the-Truth. We come as my visions demand."

"Visions?" Asked Theobald, beginning to wonder if this Bruda was as insane as the Redemptionists that they had faced earlier. Either missing this or choosing to ignore it Bruda continued to speak.

"I am being," he paused as if considering how to say what he wanted to say; "Trained in the ways of the shaman of the Kuloq."

"The Kuloq?" Longwood asked.

"The Kuloq is our name for ourselves. Ratskins is a name which others in their ignorance choice to give to us." Silver looked as if she was going to say something and Theobald was prepared to bet that it would not be terribly flattering. To prevent that he quickly interjected himself back into the conversation.

"You spoke of visions." The man took the implied invitation and continued.

"As one of the shamans the Spirits of the Hive speak to me. They bring me warnings of doom. They speak of a fallen shaman. He will bring evil which will harm the creations of Ku, the creator of all things. In my visions the spirits spoke to me and told me that I have a part to play in stopping this bringer of evil and so do you. Thus I wish to join with you and guide you to where he can be found." Silver gave him a disdainful look.

"So we're taking the advice of a fungus-chewing wyrd? Brilliant." Rolf turned towards her, a ferocious glare on his face.

"Do not speak that way of the wise one! He is like the Speakers of the clans of my home, ones blessed by the gods with wisdom and powers which we cannot understand."

"Oh yes, the knowledge of wyrds is always so reliable. If they manage to not blow themselves and those around them up first." Rolf looked as if he might say or do something which Theobald would rather he not do and so the Rogue Trader found himself interposing again.

"Rolf, that is enough. Silver, do you have any other suggestions as to how to locate our target?" She did not look happy, neither did Longwood, but neither spoke.

In truth Theobald was not quite as at ease as he was making himself sound. These two were clearly heathens, possibly heretics and he was not eager to associate with them. Also, Bruda was clearly a pysker, though nothing like the astropaths which had worked with in the past and he remembered well the warnings of the Ecclesiarchy against such people. Still, he needed help and Bruda seemed more like Speaker Ortiz than the raving madmen that the clergy had always warned him of. At last he made a decision and nodded to Bruda.

"We have an agreement."

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope that you liked it. For the Redemptionists I was going for their old look rather than the new one, which makes them look more like homeless hobos who scream at passersby. Theobald is having all sorts of fun isn't he? Don't worry, it's going to get worse. Till then please pray for the victims of flooding in the US and the severe weather in Africa and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad that people liked the last chapter and I hope that you liked this one as well, it'll be good if I do say so myself. As always I own nothing Games Workshop does.**

With Bruda and Shakara leading them they descended deeper and deeper into the Underhive. Theobald had thought that he had seen the worse that Necromunda had to offer, he had been wrong. As they went ever lower things became worse. Lumen globes and strips were ever fewer and farther between till they were moving in almost perpetual twilight. The ground which they walked on decayed as well from industrial runoff from above rained down and they found themselves walking through stinking sludge, sometimes up to their ankles. The ones most effected by this were Rolf and Longwood as both of them had grown up under open skies and air which was far cleaner than what they were breathing at the moment.

The Underhive also played with their minds. The shadows played tricks on them, making it seem that things were staring at them and they began to see foes where there were none. The maze of tunnels and pipes amplified sounds and caused them to echo back and forth till they could not tell if the sound was coming in front of them or behind them and whether the source of the sounds were caused by vermin moving about or a battle taking place. Even worse was the time when there was no doubt about what the cause of the noises were.

"AMBUSH!" Rolf called out as cries as shots rang out.

From side tunnels a mob of beings attacked, with some throwing themselves at the Theobald and his party while others hung back and fired a variety of crude autoguns and other primitive weapons, including several crossbow bolts. They had chosen their ambush sit well, there being no illumination in the area other than the lights Theobald's group was carrying and the flashes of weapons fire. In the poor light and being continually half blinded by the flashes of weapons fire Theobald did not immediately realize what they were fighting, thus he was surprised and shocked to realize that the being moving to attack him could barely be described as human.

The being was head and shoulders taller than Theobald and twice as broad, that; however, were the most human of its features. Instead of skin it was covered with lizard-like scales. It had no nose or eyes which Theobald could see and its mouth was filled with needle-like teeth. It did not speak, instead it bellowed incoherently. Theobald's lip curled in disgust at the sight of the thing.

"Scavvies!" Silver yelled as she fired her pistol at one of the attackers.

Theobald did not know what that meant and he did not have time to figure it out as the large mutant was upon him. In its club-like hands it carried a crude maul made from pieces of scrap metal bound together. Though crude and ugly it was massive and looked as if it could crack a space marine's armor open with a single blow, certainly more than enough to put down Theobald down for good if it made contact. As the brute swung at him Theobald ducked, drawing his laspistol and sword as he did so. Once the maul passed over him he rose and fired, aiming for the head. The shot struck the head, causing the mutant to bellow in pain, but failed to do any more than burn a few scales black. Theobald tried to slice at it with his sword, but by then the mutant was bringing its maul into a reverse swing and Theobald was forced to jump backward. As he did so he tripped on the uneven flooring and he fell back into the slush.

As he landed he landed on his side he felt a jab of pain, he had landed on the plasma pistol which he had forgotten about when he instinctively reached for the weapons that he had been carrying for some time. As the mutant raised its maul over its head to crush him Theobald ripped his new weapon lose and fired. A bolt of searing hot plasma shot out, fully illuminating the passageway and struck the mutant in the head. The head and neck simply dissolved. The maul fell from its fingers as the corpse slumped to the ground. Theobald quickly scrambled to his feet, muttering a quick prayer of thanks to the weapons spirit and took in the scene around him. It took him a moment for his eyes to recover from the brightness of the plasma shot and when he did the sight was grim.

The creatures, which Silver had called Scavvies, outnumbered him and his party by a much larger margin than he liked. While all their weapons were crude there were a lot of them. Fortunately, they were temporarily incapacitated from the flare of the plasma blast. Theobald and his group had also been momentarily blinded, but the Scavvies whose eyes were used to the darkness of the Underhive were taking longer to recover. The only ones not affected were the servitors. They moved through the staggering mob weapons blazing and cutting at them.

Inevitably; however, the Scavvies began to recover and they still had the numbers on their side. Despite their mutations and their crude weapons they appeared to have some grasp of tactics as when they charged in they appeared to be attempting to force Theobald and the others apart. Additionally they had a trump card. Some of them, either through employing crude but effective equipment, or aided by their mutations, were hanging from the ceiling and then dropping down in attempts to land on their prey and bring them to the ground.

One of these dropped down after it positioned itself above Shakara. Unfortunately for it the Totem Warrior appeared to sense the attack and as the Scavvie fell towards him he pivoted and thrust his blade upward and the falling mutant impaled itself on the blade. Shakara then turned the blade down, causing the body to slide off. He then charged into a nearby group of Scavvies, moving with a grace which belied his size.

Nearby Rolf had discarded his shotgun and had instead gone for his axe, swinging around in figure-eights, tearing off heads and limbs. Silver's blades were out and was wielding them with speed and dexterity, though she was clearly in danger of being overwhelmed. Longwood was having more difficulty than Rolf and Silver, as he was constantly trying to obtain enough distance between himself and the Scavvies so he could use his pistols while the Scavvies for their part kept attempting to close with him. The servitors continued to wreak havoc, but they had been surrounded and the Scavvies were doing their best to pull them down. For a moment Theobald could not see Bruda, then he spotted him. The shaman had climbed up on some debris. He began to dance and to chant in a ululating voice, his eyes seeming to glow.

"Oh Spirits of the Hive! Hear the call of your humble servant! Send your children to strike down those who would defile you!" For a moment there did not appear to be anything happening, then the sounds began. The sound of multiple scuttling feet.

From all the passages and tunnels came a seemingly endless hoard of rats, some of them clearly mutilated. Completely ignoring Theobald and his companions the vermin swarmed the Scavvies. The Scavvies, for their part, shot, swiped and stamped on their new tormentors. They killed the rats by the dozen, but it was nowhere near enough. One by one several of the Scavvies fell, their bodies literally covered by rats. At last it was too much for the others, they broke and ran, the rats on their heels. Once they were gone Bruda ceased to chant and dance and the glow left his eyes. Sweat dripping from his forehead he knelt in the slush, head bowed and hands raised.

"I praise you Hive Spirits and I thank you for the aid granted to your humble servant." As he was praying Theobald was looking around in the gloom at the other members of the party.

"Is everyone alright?" He received a chores of replies in the affirmative, while they had all been injured, none of them had been serious. Longwood kicked one of the bodies, his face contorted into an expression of disgust.

"What are these things?"

"Scavvies," Silver told him; "Mutants that live in the lower Underhive and the Sump. Rolf looked at her, an appalled look on his face.

"You let these tainted creatures live?! They should have been killed at birth!" Silver looked at him with some dislike.

"You sound like those crazy Redeptionists. I don't like Scavvies anymore than any other woman, but there are just too many of them to hunt down. Besides, some of them aren't that bad. They don't even all eat you."

"EAT YOU!?" Rolf yelled at Silver, who grinned to see his disgust and dismay.

"Indeed, some of them eat those they kill. In fact," she said as she turned to look at the two Ratskins with a wicked grin;" They say that Scavvies find Ratskins to be especially tasty." Rolf turned away in disgust.

"Savages." He muttered. Grateful that it did not appear that fight was going to break out between the members of the group Theobald suggested that they make camp and rest for a while. Moving a little farther they found an area which was a little higher up and thus slightly dryer. Theobald volunteered to take the first watch and the others settled down to sleep. In truth Theobald had mostly volunteered because he was pretty sure that there was no sleep for him that night, if it was indeed night in the maze of lightless tunnels.

His mind kept going back to the fight with the Scavvies and the means by which Bruda had turned the tide for them. The man was clearly a psyker, he had suspected it before, but now he knew for sure. While he had eaten, lived and fought alongside psykers before, including the one from Rolf's home, that had been different. The ones back on Haven had been sanctioned by the Emperor himself, except for Speaker Ortiz of course. True, the man had not shown any sigh of corruption, but who knew if that would have lasted? All his life the Ecclesiarchy had taught that the unsanctioned psyker was a gateway to damnation and his lessons had shown him a glimpse into just how real that damnation could be. Was he inviting that upon himself by listening to Bruda? He did not know, but he had a feeling that most priests would say that he was.

He could say that he was doing it to do the Emperor's will, but he was sure that many who had fallen into heresy had begun their path telling themselves the same thing. He felt his stomach twist with anxiety and unease as he tried to think what to do. In the darkness he stared up at the dark ceiling whispered a prayer.

"Oh God-Emperor, protector and guide of mankind. Please, I beg of you, send me illumination, show me the path that you would have me walk." If the Emperor hear him he did not deem to reply and the darkness was the only reply which Theobald received. He sighed, not sure if had really expected a reply or not.

He wished that they had dared to light a fire. He missed the purity that the flame brought when he held his hand near it while listening to La'lek preaching the Promethium Cult. That; however, was not an option and he had to make up his own mind here and now. He thought back to what Bruda had said about the threat that they were heading towards. Without the shaman's aid it was unlikely that Theobald could find the threat before the threat manifested itself. But did the ends justify the means? That seemed a slippery slope which could lead to places which he would rather not go. He still had not come to an answer when Longwood replaced him and it was a long time before he at last managed to fall asleep.

When he was roused from his sleep he felt tired and stiff and not in a good mood. He was still troubled by his thoughts from before and an answer still eluded him. Until he could come to a decision he decided that he would keep his thoughts to himself as he had no one in his party with whom he could consult. Instead he would focus on the task at hand, once that was dealt with he would decide what to do. It really wasn't a solution and he knew that, but it made him feel better that had an answer, any answer, to give himself to settle his uneasy conscience.

Fortunately they did not see any more of the Scavvies. Longwood voiced the opinion that they may have bloodied them enough the last time that they would be unwilling to attack them directly again. Theobald hoped that that was so, though that opened up another problem. Back on Haven, where they could not fight the Orks in pitched battles either, they had instead employed traps and ambushes, employing hit-and-run tactics to whittle down the xenos' numbers. Here the situation was reversed, Theobald and his party were the invaders and it was the Scavvies fighting on what Theobald assumed was their home ground. They could at that very moment be preparing an ambush which would potentially kill them all without the ability to respond, or whittle them down till they were weak enough to attack again. In an effort to prevent such an ambush he placed the servitors in the front and rear in the hope that their combat Auspexs would detect any threats before they struck, though the walls and tunnels were hampering their effectiveness. They had other alerts as well to aid them.

Shakara, who clearly had little faith in the servitors capabilities, moved along side them, his eyes seemingly able to penetrate the gloom. Nor was that all he could do, it was he and not the servitors, who first noticed a section of the flooring which he indicated was unsafe, though in the dark it didn't look any different to Theobald, but he was prepared to take Shakara's word on the matter. They procced in this manner for what seemed like hours, Silver stating that they were likely nearing the Sump, the very bottom of the Hive, when the ground began to shake.

"HIVE QUAKE!" She cried out as the ground continued to shake.

Rubble fell from the ceiling, striking one of the servitors and causing everyone to look for cover, though there was little to be found. In the confusion Rolf step on a section of flooring and it gave way beneath him. With a yell of surprise and fear he fell through and vanished into the darkness. As the shaking subsided Theobald rushed to the edge of the hole and shined his light down into it. To his surprise he saw Rolf about eight feet down. The man was trying to rise, but appeared to be unable to do so. Moving the light around Theobald saw that Rolf appeared to have landed on a gigantic web. Even as he struggled to free himself, seeming to become only more entangled in the web, a dark shape moved below him.

Rolf followed Theobald's gaze and gave a cry of terror as a spider larger than a man climbed up from below to head towards him. Theobald drew his plasma pistol, but then he hesitated. The creature was too close to Rolf, if he fired his pistol he risked killing him in the blast as well. Instead he drew his laspistol and opened fire. The bolts struck the spider, but failed to do more than to slightly scorch its hide and cause it to give a screeching cry of rage.

"AIM FOR THE EYES!" Silver cried out, putting her words to action with her pistol. Longwoods pistols were already cracking off shots and UCS 1 was blasting with its bolter, Theobald had ordered UCS 3 to hold back as its flamer would almost certainly have hit Rolf. The heavy bolter shells struck and detonated against the spider's body, blowing chunks of its body away. It gave a final cry, collapsed onto its web and lay still.

After waiting for nearly a minute to be sure that the spider was indeed dead Theobald had the others lower him and Silver down by cables and employed his power sword and some form of acid from Silver's belt to cut and melt the webbing around Rolf. As Theobald pulled Rolf up he looked over and saw Silver gingerly move over to the body of the spider. She drew her knife and cautiously began to cut into its skull.

"What are you doing?" Theobald asked her.

"Collecting its venom." She said, taking out several vials and collecting a greenish fluid.

"Why?" Rolf ask, looking with revulsion at the body of the creature. She rolled her eyes and looked as if he had said something profoundly stupid.

"The venom of these spiders is very valuable and people pay a lot for it." At their looks of noncom prehension she continued.

"The venom has a variety of uses. It can be smeared on daggers and others blades and it can also be used to create…other things." Theobald thought he knew what those products were, but he held his peace as they were lifted back up.

Fortunately they encountered no more threats for a while, Silver informed them that the spider would have kept any potential rivals away. As they moved along they left the tunnels behind and they found themselves in a vast open area. Ahead of them they saw the glow of another settlement. After what had happened at Deadman's Pit Theobald was reluctant to enter another settlement, but there was the chance that they could obtain news of Homsey. However; as they drew close Bruda began to shake. Immediately Shakara was at his side, a concerned look on his face.

"What is wrong Shaman?"

"Can you not feel it? The Hive Spirits are crying out in pain. A great evil has happened here." That was both good and bad. It made Theobald even more reluctant to enter the settlement, but on the other hand it seemed as if the man that they were seeking was there, or at least had been. Thus they proceeded on.

The first thing that they saw as the came up was that the gate had been demolished, no that was not quite right. It was almost if the gate had been melted. The same was also true for the towers flanking the gate. Hanging over it all was the smell of melted metal and burnt flesh. There were far fewer people on the streets than the size of the settlement would indicate. Theobald's breath caught when he saw the wanted poster for him tacked to a wall, but it did not appear that anyone was interested in collecting it. Indeed, most people slunk away from him as he drew near and it was not hard to see why.

In addition to the damage to the gates there were numerous other signs of battle. Many of the buildings had burns and bullet holes which looked to be new and Theobald saw more than one of the locals was sporting bloody bandages. Silver went up to a woman attempting to repair a stall of some sort.

"Hello, Mother. What happened here?" The woman, hunched back and indeed looking old enough to be Silver's mother, if not grandmother, flinched away from Silver, but answered the question.

"Raiders." She said in a voice which was little more than a raspy whisper.

"Which raiders, any gang affiliations?"

"Raiders," the woman said again; "Came across the lake, but no one lives there." It was clear that they were not going to get any more from the woman and so they headed on.

The lake was the on the other side of the settlement down a slight incline, which explained why they had not seen it as they approached. The water had a greenish look to it and a foul smell wafted off of it. There were several boats on the shore among sickly looking weeds, though Theobald could not see what was to be gained from the lake. Surely nothing from the lake could be edible. Rolf looked at the water, looking no more impressed than Theobald was.

"We are going on that aren't we chief?" He asked in an unenthusiastic tone of voice. Theobald only nodded.

It took some time to negotiate passage on one of the barges. Its crew, more than a few of which were sporting minor mutations, were clearly reluctant to go anywhere near were the raiders had come from. In the end it took one of the vials of venom which Silver had collected and the promise of a second one if they waited for them to return. The voyage was conducted in silence, the crew being unwilling to talk much of the raid save that there had been many and had used sorcery. They also seemed reluctant to speak, or even come near, the two Ratskins. Just as well because Bruda was getting worse, his shaking was now constant and seemed to be getting worse the closer they got to the other shore.

Once they were there they continued on through passages and open spaces as they moved through abandoned habblocks and factorums. An hour after leaving the boat Shakara, who was in the lead, called for a halt and dropped to the ground, the others following suit. Theobald crawled up to him. He did not say anything, but his question was clear. The Ratskin pointed ahead of them, about eighty feet in front of them atop some rubble a fire had been lit and several men were sitting around it. All of them were clearly armed and wore heavy robes, which one of the crews reluctantly admitted that the raiders had worn.

Theobald motioned for Silver to come up to them and once she was there he indicated the sentries and then pointed to the rifle on her back and arched his eyebrow. She nodded and, after looking around she started to crawl towards a pile of rubble to the left. Once she climbed up on it she unslung her rifle and took aim. She let out a breath and pulled the trigger. Theobald had expected the snap-crack of a lasgun, instead there was almost no noise, though there was a thin, hard to see lasbolt. It shot out and struck one of the robed figures. The figure went down with a gurgle and hit the ground. The two other sentries leapt to their feet, weapons in hand. Silver fired again, but this time the shot missed. The two individuals raised a keening cry and farther on, in the ruins of a hab block, return cries were heard.

"I think we found them boss." Longwood said, as he and the others rose and drew their weapons.

"I believe you are correct." Theobald said as a mob of robed figures appeared from the ruins in front and to the sides of them. It was hard to see how many there were in the dark, but Theobald was prepared to guess there was near a hundred of them, but his eyes were fixed on the group in front of them.

A band in the middle was holding torches which cast them in flickering light. They appeared to be better armed than those which Theobald could see and in the middle of the group, wearing flowing robes of red, black and gold, was Homsey. Even as he saw him Bruda scream, a scream of pain, despair and rage. It sounded as if his very soul was being violated.

"IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!" Theobald could not understand, then he saw it and it all became horrifically clear.

A figure was next to Bruda and at first Theobald had thought that it was a man, but it was not. It was too tall, its limbs too thin and from its head sprouted several horns. He first thought, then hoped, that it was merely a mutant, but then he saw that it was floating off of the ground. As they drew closer Theobald could see that the figure was twisted and contorted, as if its limbs had been twisted and broken, its skin was a purplish-gray and numerous sigils had been tattooed and branded onto it. Its eyes were black orbs and in its throat was a second mouth, which spit and hissed in a language which was not Gothic, but Theobald had heard before, when he entered the Warp and things pressed against the Gellar Field. Bruda's feelings became his own as he realized what he was looking at.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" He found himself crying out, hearing in his own voice the terror and rage the Shaman felt. The others looked at him with incomprehension, not realizing that they were looking at something which had no right to exist and which they should not know existed. He ignored them, his full attention focused entirely on the abomination in front of him.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE HERE! YOU SHOULD NOT BE!" It smiled, revealing needle-like teeth and spread its hands to the sides, it black, knife-like claws pointed upwards. Then it spoke with both its mouths, one sounding almost normal while the other spoke in multitude of voices which were clearly not human and which Theobald thought he could hear in his mind as well as with his ears.

"Yet, here I am mortal." The Daemonhost said.

 **Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hoped that you liked it. How was it? I wanted to capture the feel of the Underhive and how an Imperial citizen would feel about working with an unsanctioned psyker. I meant for the battle to be in this chapter, but I decided to move to the next one, which will take the entirety of the chapter. Till then please pray for all who need it.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, as always I own nothing. WARNING: GORE (it's Warhmmer after all)**

The demon's words had the effect of shacking Theobald back into action. Having some knowledge of the danger they were in he ripped his plasma pistol from its holster and aimed at the demon. As he did so he cried out to those around him.

"KILL IT! KILL IT! KILL IT!" His voice still tinged with the fear and anger which he had felt earlier. The others, with the possible exception of Bruda, did not know what they were looking at and Theobald had no intention of telling them. Fortunately, they seemed to recognize that the demonhost was the greatest threat. Rolf blasted at it with his shotgun, Longwood fired his pistols, the servitors unleashed their weapons and Theobald also fired his plasma pistol. It was all for nothing.

The demon raised a barrier around itself which absorbed all the attacks thrown at it. The only attack which had any effect was Silver's and even that was not against its intended target. She hurled another of her gas grenades, apparently assuming that it was far enough away that Theobald and the others were out of range, or at least Theobald hoped that had been her reasoning. As the gas moved towards the demonhost it spread its hands and used its power to push the gas to either side of it. The gas failed to harm it, but it took its full effect on the cultists on either side of it and more than a dozen of them died chocking and vomiting.

Druda, guarded by Shakara, had again begun to dance and chant, but Theobald did not have time to see what he was attempting to do, he had to reassess the battle plan. His original plan of taking the demon out immediately had clearly failed. Fortunately, as Silver's gas had shown, the cultists did not enjoy such protection. He turned his attention back to where Homsey was standing, having hung back urging the cultists on. Theobald guessed that he had been the one which had summoned the demonhost. While he did not know much about such creatures, he hoped that killing the man would cause the creature to go away. Admittedly that belief came mostly from children stories and wishful thinking, but he really did not have anything else to go on. He turned to the others.

"Focus on the others!" As he said that he moved to the side, his plan was to try to avoid being seen by the demon by flanking it and then making for an effort to take him down before his creature could see him and react.

Unfortunately, while attention was focused on the demon, there were still the cultists to contend with. Several of them rushed him while others fired at him. As two of them reached him Theobald whipped out his sword and slashed one of them across the face, cutting halfway through the man's skull. The second opponent, a scrawny woman whose face was covered by tattoos and scares, grabbed his outstretched arm. Wrapping her arm around his and forcing her body against his and drove a shard of metal at his chest. It struck him with surprising strength, as she was both smaller than Theobald and appeared to be malnourished. However; it failed to penetrate his armor and he retaliated with a punch with his free arm. Due to her position and the fact that he was using his off hand the blow had less power than it otherwise would have. Fortunately the blow struck her on the side of her head, dazed she loosened her grip on his arm which allowed him to pull free and run her through.

He did not have a chance to savor or build on his victory as several more cultists opened fire on him. Luckily, due to the poor lighting, they were having a difficult time focusing on him and many of the shots went wide. Inevitably some of the shots struck him and while his armor absorbed most of the damage he still suffered some injuries and he knew that his armor was not going to hold forever. He returned fire with his laspistol, his efforts aided by the fact that some of them were standing in the light of the torches, which aided his aim. While some of his shot too went wide those which struck had more effect as it appeared that none of the cultists wore armor. However; there was simply too many of them and their weight of fire forced him to take cover behind some rubble. He took this time to take in the larger battle.

The others seemed to be having the same difficulties as he was having. Rolf, at least, appeared to be in his element. A number of cultists had rushed him and while he had down two with his shotgun several had reached him and he had gone for his axe. It's teeth roaring he struck one with such force that the cultist's head was ripped from his shoulders. Two were trying to flank him, but before they could attack he struck first. He lunged towards the one on the left and stuck them with the butt of his axe with such force that the cultist's head snapped back and Theobald was prepared to swear that even over all the sounds of the battle he could hear sound of the cultist's neck snap. Rolf then spun around and buried his axe in the ribcage of his other attacker.

Longwood was, at least for the moment, holding his own. He had clearly been in a firefight or two in which he was at a disadvantage and knew how to handle himself. He did not stay in any one spot for long, he was constantly moving from one cover to the other. While Rolf seemed to prefer to close with his opponents Longwood was the exact opposite, preferring to keep his distance and engage his enemies at range. For the moment it appeared to be working, but like Theobald and Rolf he was outnumbered and it was beginning to tell. They were already moving to flank him and would soon be in a position to attack him from all sides.

Silver had maintained her position and continued to snipe at the cultists. She had donned her mask and whenever cultists came too close she lobbed more gas grenades at them. She had actually killed more than Rolf, Longwood and Theobald combined, but the cultists kept coming and while he did not know how many she had taken Theobald knew that her supply of grenades was not infinite. Once that happened she would be just as vulnerable to being overwhelmed as the others.

The servitors were having the best time of it. Their targeting arrays not needing light they poured fire into the cultists. Their ranged weapons cut down targets, their armor shrugged off the light weapons of the enemy and their chainweapons wrought carnage against any which came too close. The sight of them gave Theobald hope that the battle might yet go in their favor. It did not appear that the cultists had anything which could seriously damage the servitors and the servitors' weapons were inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Hopefully that would draw the enemy's attention to them, which would draw pressure off of Theobald's organic allies and perhaps allow them to go back on the offensive. Just as he thought that a laugh which chilled his blood rang out. The demon thrust a clawed hand out and a bolt of scarlet lightning shot out to blast UCS 3. The servitor was instantly reduced to a mass of burned flesh and melted metal.

Theobald's optimism instantly evaporated. There did not appear to be anything which they could do to harm the demon and it was clear that the demon could easily harm them. Even if they ran the demon and the cultists would run them down. He had never been in such a situation back on Haven, indeed their whole strategy had been based around avoiding such situations, either by avoiding fights or ensuring that there was always a means of escape. A feeling of helplessness and hopelessness settled over him as he realized that he did not know what to do. Then he heard a malicious chuckle. Looking up he saw to his horror that the demon was much closer than it had been before and was moving towards him.

"I can taste your despair, such a lovely taste." Theobald tried to raise his weapon, but suddenly felt as he had simultaneously lost all his energy and been placed in a high gravity environment. The demon floated up to him, continuing to speak.

"I have always found those emotions the finest which you mortals produce, though they are as dull as everything else you produce. Still, why don't we see if we can induce a little more." So saying it moved up to him, its hands reaching for him. Theobald tried again to bring up his weapon and aim, in doing so he made a mistake, he looked the creature in the eye.

He found himself locked with them and could not look away. They were not of any color which he could identify and they seemed, not deep like some human eyes, but twin tunnels to a place dark and terrible and Theobald felt himself being drawn into it. His mind felt strained to breaking and it sent increasingly frantic demands to his body to move. Demands which his body was unable to respond to. Appearing to sense this the demon smiled, a sight more terrible than anything that Theobald had experienced fighting Orks. As the demon drew closer a roaring filled his ears, drowning out all other sounds and it seemed that nothing existed but Theobald and the demon. Then a voice cut through the sound.

"Oh Hive Spirits! Dispel the darkness of that which would defile you and free your servants from its grasp!" Almost immediately the roaring ceased and Theobald found that he could move again, which he immediately used to break eye contact with the demon. The demon, for its part, turned with a hiss towards Bruda.

"Do not dare to match your powers against mine little psyker!" Then it took on a contemplative expression.

"Still, you are strong for a mortal. I think that you would make a far finer host than the wretch they bound me in." With that it seemed to forget about Theobald and move towards the shaman.

As he closed Shakara interposed himself between Bruda and the demon. The demon did not even slow down; its first blow disemboweled Shakara, the second took his head off. Bruda began to dance and chant again, but then the demon was on him, a single blow splintered ribs and drove the wind out of him. As he fell the demon caught his head in its hands. Raising him up it brought their heads close together. Theobald could not be sure, but it appeared that… _something_ was sliding from the demonhost to Bruda. The shaman, for his part, screamed. A scream of loss and despair and it seemed to go on and on till Theobald wanted to rip his ears off so he would not have to hear it anymore.

"STOP!" A voice cut through it all, harsh and authoritative. Homsey pushed his way in front of his followers and was pointing a finger at the demonhost.

"I ORDERED YOU TO KILL THEM! NOTHING MORE!" As he spoke several of the symbols on the demonhost's flesh blazed with light and the demon hissed and spat while it dropped Bruda to the ground. It turned to glare at Homsey, but before it could speak it was interrupted by Bruda.

As he crawled back to his feet the shaman, still catching his breath, began to laugh. It was not a normal laugh; it was high-pitched and tinged with madness. Blood trickled from his nose, ears and even his eyes. He continued to laugh and it even grew in volume, his eyes wide and wild. He pointed at the demon and spoke, his voice high and hysterical.

"When you tried to come into me our minds were one and I know you. I know the dark one you serve. I know how that man bound you." His voice lost its hysterical edge and became low and hard.

" **And. I. Know. Your. Name."** The demon screamed and lunged for Bruda. But before he could reach him the shaman began to speak…something.

It was no langue Theobald had ever heard, if that was indeed what it was and it tore at Theobald's ears, making him feel nauseous. Looking over to Silver, who was slightly closer to Bruda than he was, was violently vomiting. Worse off of all was Longwood, closest of all. He was on his hands and knees vomiting and clutching at his ears as blood flowed freely from them. The worse effected of all; however, was the demon itself.

It shrieked and bellowed and seemed to weaken more and more as Bruda continued to speak. It drifted to the ground and seemed to have trouble even standing. With a scream of rage it lunged forward and plunged its claws into Bruda's chest. Engaged Theobald raised his plasma pistol and fired. This time there was no shield and the shot blew a hole in its chest. With a final ear-splitting shriek it fell to the ground and dissolved into a pile of dust. Everyone froze for a moment and then Homsey cried out.

"Kill them my faithful! Destroy the unbelievers!" Despite his words his followers seemed reluctant to continue the fight after their loses and the banishment of the demon. Apparently in an effort to spur them on Homsey drew a chainsword and charged, a scream of rage ripping from him. Theobald aimed and pulled the trigger, but the plasma pistol was still charging and did not fire. So Theobald drew his laspistol and fired. The first shot went wide, but the second took Homsey in the shoulder and the third in the throat. He dropped to his knees and then fell to the ground, a look of stunned surprise on his face. This was the last straw, the cultists broke and fled into the darkness.

For some time none of them moved, they all just sat or lay were they were, waiting for strength to return. At last Theobald forced himself to his feet. It required a great deal of effort as, with the conclusion of the battle he felt drained and all his injuries began to throb. He first went to Bruda and was not surprised to find no pulse. He knew that they could not stay there, scavengers and predators were sure to come. Before they left; however, there was one more thing to do. The item which Homsey had taken had to be reclaimed. He made his way to the body and soon found it as it had fallen from his robe. He had been told not to open the box, but as he opened it the box fell open and he saw what was inside.

Once again the universe seemed to stop and Theobald's heart along with it. After what they had just been through it should not have induced such dread, but it did. Theobald stared at it as if he could make it vanish through sheer force of willpower, but it stubbornly insisted on remaining.

"Curse you Vola." He muttered, keeping his voice low so that the other could not hear him as he continued to stare at the ground.

The Inquisitorial Rosette stared back.

 **Author's Notes: Welcome to Inquisitorial politics, he was probably safer off in unknown space. What did you think of the battle? I was trying to capture the true horror of being near the demonic and near possession for normal humans. Do you think I got it? Also do you think Vola will deem it necessary to dispose of them for what they have seen? Till next time please pray for all who need it and may Jesus bless you.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Notes: Hey, sorry that it has been a while since I updated. As always I own nothing.**

Theobald stared at the Rosette, not quite willing to accept what was happening. An inquisitor, he'd killed an inquisitor! The hand of the Emperor himself! He felt his heart racing and tried to quiet it, his breath was coming in short gasps and he tried to force himself to breath normally. Vola had sent him after Homsey, he must have known what the man was and the man had summoned a demon. Yes, that had to be it. He had not done anything wrong, surly anyone could see that. Though he told himself this he could not shake the feeling that things would not be as simple as that. He had not interacted with the Inquisition long, nor extensively, he had seen enough to know that just because a person had done nothing but what they were ordered to do did not mean that they would not be blamed and punished for it.

Finally, there was the matter of the demon. As a Rogue Trader he had access to limited knowledge of such creatures, enough to inflict horrible nightmares to trouble his sleep at times, but such knowledge was denied to the vast majority of the population, including those who accompanied him. Even if he were to be spared that was no guarantee that they would be as well. And assuming that they were, by the mercy of the Inquisition or some other miracle, spared being aware of the existence of such creatures could lead to their corruption. No, they must never know what it was that they had fought. Even as he came to this conclusion the matter was brought to a head by Silver.

"What the frack was that thing Boss-man?!" Fortunately, he had already come up with an answer which he hoped would satisfy them without telling them what they had really faced. He turned back to face them, seeing the fear in their faces as a primitive part of their minds guessed at what they had fought.

"A mutant wyrd. A powerful one, but a being of flesh and blood, nothing more." Rolf and Silver looked relieved, but Longwood was looking at him as if he suspected Theobald of falsehood. Unable to look the other man in the eye Theobald sought some distraction. He bent and retrieved the Rosette and placed it back in its box and then turned back to the others.

"We need to get out of here." Silver nodded in agreement.

"Now that this has lot is dead or fled it won't be long before other gangs or squatters move into this area and they likely will not be happy to see us." The others took her word for it and they began backtracking the way that they had come.

Fortunately, while there were still dangers and the terrain was still difficult to navigate, they were not attacked again. It seemed that the cult had driven all others away and until it was discovered that the cult was broken and scattered others would keep away. Theobald was grateful for this as his party was much reduced and those who remained were all nursing wounds and their supply of ammunition had been much reduced. If they were attacked again he was not sure that they would be able to successfully fight the attackers off.

Gradually the Sump gave way to the Underhive. Theobald found it strange how comforting it seemed. After what he had seen below the sight of human civilization, even in a decayed state, was comforting, a sense of comfort which increased the farther they went. However; the return to the Underhive meant that the potential for danger increased as they entered the domains of the various gangs. It appeared that he was not the only one of the group who appeared to posses those fears. Silver's eyes were constantly moving, searching every shadow and dark place where a foe could be hiding. Longwood likewise was keeping a sharp lookout for any potential ambushes. Rolf kept close to Theobald while the servitor swept the entire area with its scanners. Every approach was covered: except for one.

Without a sound a shadow fell over them and a moment later something struck them. Rolf shoved Theobald to the side and then fell to the ground screaming in agony as he held the bleeding stump where his left arm was now gone from just above the elbow. As he hit the ground Theobald already had his laz and plasma pistols out seeing a target. He had a vague sense of the outline of a figure, but then it was gone. The servitor, on the other hand, was aided by more than just eyes and seemed to be able track their attacker and it sent a stream of bolter shells into seemingly empty air. There was a cry of pain and a figure in a suit of armor, which strangely incorporate a pair of wings, became visible. With a cry of rage the figure raised wasted no time in counterattacking. Lasbolts flew from its fists to strike against the sevitor's torso. The bolts tore through its armor as if it wasn't there and soon the servitor was reduced to nothing but a blasted mass of burnt meat and twisted metal.

However; while the figure had been focusing on the servitor, the others had been active as well. Longwood had taken cover and was firing his pistols as rapidly as he could. Silver had unlimbered her lasrifle and was adding her fire to the others. The figure, still only half-seen, but apparently unable to make itself completely invisible, spread its wings and leapt into the air and vanished into the shadows. For several moments there was silence and Theobald began to hope that the threat, whatever it was, had been driven off. Just as he was beginning to feel hopeful, he heard the sound of air being displaced behind him. He turned, his weapons coming up, but it was already too late.

The figure came in low and struck him full in the chest. Ribs cracked and broke and the wings cut through his armor, though fortunately they failed to do much more than cut his skin. Reacting on instinct Theobald dropped his weapons and, unable to get a grip anywhere else, grabbed the figure's head with both hands and twisted. They crashed to the ground in a struggling mass. Deprived of its mobility the figure struggled to get lose, but deprived of its mobility it was having great difficulty. As it struggled to rise Silver ran up and bashed the figure in the head with the butt of her rifle. The blow caused the figure's head to snap forward and strike against the ground. There was a resounding crack, a cry of pain and the figure slumped onto Theobald and lay still.

For a moment he lay there catching his breath and then began to move. He rolled the figure off of him and painfully got to his feet. His first thought was for Rolf and he looked over and was pleased to see that Longwood had hurried over to him and was treating him with a medikit. He and Silver had managed to escape uninjured, Theobald and Rolf having received the majority of the attacker's attention. Remembering this Theobald turned his attention back to the unconscious figure. Leaning down he felt around the helmet till he managed to work out how to detach it from the rest of the armor and pull it lose. What he saw beneath it shocked him.

It was a girl, she looked about the same age as Silver, with tightly bound red hair. She had fine-boned, aristocratic features. She looked as if she belonged more at the grand ball of some upper spire noble, not in the Underhive doing her best to kill Theobald. As he stared down at her Silver came up and spat in disgust.

"Knew it! Spyre Hunter!" The venom in her voice startled Theobald and he rose and turned to look at her.

"A what?" A question that he felt had been asked almost constantly since arriving on Necromunda. Just as before she gave him a look which suggested that he was an idiot.

"A Spyre Hunter is a Spire nob who comes down to the Underhive to show how tough they are by hunting us with their fancy suits." Theobald looked down at the girl in revulsion and then looked over at Rolf. Longwood had managed to stop the bleeding, at least for the most part. He sighed in disgust.

"Is everything and everyone on this accursed planet trying to kill us?!" He exclaimed, anger and weariness filling his voice. Silver looked at him and gave him a cynical smirk.

"Pretty much. You're getting the hang of the place boss-man." Shaking his head in disgust, Theobald went over to check on Rolf.

"How is he doing?" He asked Longwood.

"Well, I stopped the bleeding, but I would feel a lot better if a proper doctor could look at him." Silver looked skeptical.

"Don't know of any sawbones around here and not sure that I would trust them if there were, kinda hit and miss with them." Theobald, remembering the butcher Harland, could only agree.

"We have to get him out of the Underhive." He declared. Once they were in the Hive they could get him to a proper healer.

The guilds and other powers which owned the various manufactorum would employ them to care fore their work force. He doubted that they would be the best, those would be farther up, but he was confident that they could care for Rolf. He was confident that they would have had more than ample experience treating loses of limbs and other injuries caused by violence. Having determined on a course of action he set to it; time was of the essence. He turned to Longwood.

"I will carry Rolf, take point." He turned to Silver.

"I need you to bring up the rear." Longwood turned to nod at the downed girl.

"What about her? If we just leave her here she might come after us when she wakes up."

"Cut her throat." Silver said, her voice hard and full of hatred. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke again.

"Take her stuff though, people pay heaps for that stuff. Time was of the essence, but Theobald nodded and stripped her of her gear. He looked down at her for a moment and then came to a decision. Taking a cord from his pack he tied her hands and feet.

"What are doing?" Silver asked incredulously.

"You said she is nobility. I'll wager her family would be willing to pay to get her back." Silver was already shaking her head.

"Nothing doing boss-man. The nobs never pay to get them back."

"They may not be willing to do business with the gangs," Theobald said; "A rogue trader is a different matter altogether." She still looked skeptical, but said no more. What Theobald said had been true, he hoped to gain a ransom, or something of value from the girl's family, but there had been another reason, one he would never tell Silver or anyone else less it be seen as a sign of weakness. He remembered fighting the Orks and granting mercy deaths to the wounded. It had mostly passed from his memory, but it stayed with him, making it so that he could never easily kill an uncorrupted human if he did not have to. So they continued on, with each of them burdened down. Theobald carrying Rolf, Longwood the girl and Silver the girl's gear.

Fortunately they were not attacked again and reached the Hive proper without incident. As they were not bonded to any of the guilds the attentions of a apothecary cost Theobald much of his remaining currency, but it was worth it. Not only was the wound treated, but it was fitted by a bulky but functional prostatic arm. As they had moved upward their captive had at last come to and had unleashed such a stream of curses that Theobald had had her gaged, an act which Silver had performed with ever sign of enjoyment. The only fact of value that they had learned was that she was a member of House Ko'Iron and she had quite elaborate deaths planned for all of them.

As they neared the Wall, the barrier which separated the Spire from the rest of the hive. Theobald observed that Silver had become more and more nervous the higher up they had gone. It had started the moment that they had left the Underhive and had increase the higher up they had gone. She seemed uneasy simply walking the streets without watching for ambushes and was visibly restraining herself from going for a weapon whenever they passed patrols of Enforcers. It was clear that she had rarely, if ever, left the Underhive and was feeling uneasy about being out of her element. Theobald could sympathize, having often found himself in the same situation since his elevation. When they drew almost to the Wall he turned to her.

"Silver, you have kept your part of the bargain. You guided us and I doubt that would have succeeded without you. As promised you are free to go. I wish you the best of everything. May the Emperor smile on you." She looked pleased at the praise, yet she still seemed nervous. She shifted about as if she was trying to find the words to say something she was reluctant to say. At last she seemed to gather the nerve to say what she wanted to say.

"You see, the thing boss-man is, well, being with you was as exciting as running with a gang, almost too much really. And you are going back to your ship. I ain't never seen the stars, knew girl once who came from the Spire, she saw the stars and said they were beautiful and I always kinda wanted to see them too and it might be something to see places beyond the Underhive and the Sump. I've never even seen what's on the other side of the Wall. What I mean is…" Her voice trailed off embarrassed. Theobald smiled.

"Silver, would you care to join my crew? I could use someone with your skills." She beamed and he found himself reminded of how he had felt as a child and when he had first learned that those dreams were going to come true. He hoped that she found the realization better than he had at first.

When they reached the Wall the Enforcers guarding it gave their captive only a cursory glance, this apparently was not the first time they had seen such a sight. They were more concerned with the appearance of Silver, it was clear that she was of one of the gangs and it was clear that her kind was not welcomed in the Spire and Theobald and Longwood looked pretty ragged and disheveled as well. A fact driven home by the one whose elaborate helm indicated his seniority. He moved forward and shoved Silver with his power maul.

"Back to the Sump scum!" He shouted in her face while his men pumped their shotguns. Before Silver could do anything Theobald stepped in the way.

"She is with me." The officer snorted in derision, taking in Theobald's appearance.

"And who are you? What's your business in the Spire?" Theobald drew himself up to his full height, which he was pleased to see made him taller than the officer and put on as much contempt and authority into his voice, something his tutors had been sure to teach him.

"I am Theobald Traub. Rogue Trader and if you don't cease this harassment of my party I shall be sure to inform Lord Gerontius Helmawr of this treatment." The man looked startled, but not entirely convinced. Theobald pulled forth the pass which Helmawr had given, which gave him permission to pass through the Wall and bore the governor's seal. The man's face went pale as Theobald stared at him with all the haughtiness that he could muster and he quickly waved them through. Silver was impressed and it showed.

"Yo boss-man! That was awesome! Did you see his face? You think that a Sump rat was lose in his trousers!" The others agreed, even Rolf managed a weak smile and chuckle.

Once in the Spire they made their way to the space port, being slowed by Silver wanting to stop and gawk at everything, having never seen. Another complication occurred when they reached the space port, just as the sun appeared. Silver cried out in pain and fell to the ground clutching at her eyes.

"What is it?!" Theobald asked, alarm in his voice.

"TOO BRIGHT! TOO BRIGHT!" She cried out. Coming through the haze of pollution present even here the light was vaguely dim to Theobald and Longwood, but blindly bright to Silver, having lived her whole live in the gloom of the Underhive. Theobald quickly helped her into the shuttle and shut the hatch, cutting off the light. Once they returned to the _Adventurer_ Silver seemed to recover in the artificial lighting and confines, Theobald had noticed that she had seemed to be made uneasy in the Spire where there had been open spaces and no roof in places. Leaving her in the care of Longwood Theobald called the vox operator and had him contact House Ko'Iron.

It was some time before he was able to reach anyone. It soon became clear that there was a proper means to contact a member of House Ko'Iron, much less the matriarch herself. He finally had to go back to the planet and found himself in conversation with an individual who seemed to have a title, but not a name. This individual proceeded to inform Theobald that it was indeed quite possible to meet with Princess Gwentria, the current ruling matriarch of House Ko'Iron.

"Exhalent," Theobald said; "Do you believe that I will be able to see her today, or should I wait till tomorrow?" The man looked at him as if Theobald was an Ork which had just recited poetry. After a moment of awkward moment of silence the man began to speak again.

"Forgive me my lord, but I believe that you failed to understand me. There is a line to meet with the Princess and you must take your place. Fortunately I was just informed that an individual in line has recently died. As a Rouge Trader I can place you in that person's position rather than having you go to the back of the line. At the current rate your audience should be within four years at most." For a moment Theobald stared at him, looking for any signs that the man was joking. When he saw that he wasn't he felt the all the rage, frustration, weariness and all the other emotions which had been building up within him since venturing into the Underhive came boiling up inside him and for once he felt no need to hold them back.

"Listen to me, you little grox-fondler! I was attacked and one of my men nearly killed by a member of House Ko'Iron!" To emphasize this he brought forth the helmet they had taken from the hunter and slammed it down on the counter which separate them, causing the man to jump and piles of papers to come crashing down.

"Now! Either I receive an audience with the Princess, or I shall inform Lord Gerontius Helmawr himself of this outrage!" Even as he said it a thought struck him. He took out the box he had taken from Homsey and opened it so that the other man could see its contents.

"I shall also have to inform my other…associate that you and by extension House Ko'Iron are interfering and hindering my progress. But don't worry, I am sure that he will be quite understanding and forgiving, members of the Inquisition are known for that, don't you agree? Or possibly he might simply not become overly excited if I use my ship's guns to create a few more vacancies in the line!" The man went even paler than he already was and managed to stammer out something about getting seeing if he could not expedite the process. As the man rushed about Theobald felt the urge for his knees to shake. He had just threatened a noble house, something he would never have even contemplated a few short years ago. He also worried how Vola would react if and when he found out about Theobald invoking the Inquisition for his own ends, firmly told himself that he would deal with that problem when it arose. Within hours Theobald found himself within the palace of House Ko'Iron. It was large and impressive, though not as much as that of Lord Helmawr.

After the scene that he had caused earlier he had expected to meet with the princess herself. Instead he found himself facing an elaborately robed man carrying a staff which was clearly a mark of status. As Theobald approached the man bowed.

"I am Petiuxis Issostus and I have the honor of serving the Princess Gwentria as her majordomo. Unfortunately, Her Highness is currently indisposed as it is her nap time." Theobald stared at him, convinced that he had heard the last part wrong.

"Excuse me, did you say her nap?" The man nodded, either not hearing the shock in Theobald's voice or choosing to ignore it.

"Indeed, fortunately we received word of your most unfortunate misunderstanding with Her Highness' cousin, the Lady Julia Ko'Iron. Her Highness wishes me to inform you that for attacking you and for failing to fulfill her vow she has brought shame upon House Ko'Iron. As punishment the Lady Julia is hereby banished from House Ko'Iron and its holdings. Her Highness hopes that this will be sufficient to satisfy you and that there will not be any hard feelings." With that the man looked at Theobald, clearly believing that the matter was at an end. Theobald wanted to press the matter, but was not sure what that would accomplish. So he merely turned and left.

Once he was back on the _Adventurer_ he had a message sent to Vola to update him. Given the extremely sensitive nature of the situation he had the astropaths merely send one word 'Success' to the inquisitor. That done he proceeded to the brig were their captive had been secured once they had returned from the surface. Though the prisoner, Julia, had been stripped of her armor and weapons once aboard Theobald still collected two armsmen as an escort along the way. With both of them flanking him, weapons leveled, he opened the door to the cell.

The cell was spartan, bare of all furniture and the only amenity being a hole in the floor for waste. Stripped of her armor Julia wore only a body glove, somewhat dirtied and torn from the less than gentle handling which she had received. She glared at Theobald with hate-filled eyes as he entered her cell. If she was intimidated by the loss of her armor and weapons as well as being surrounded by clearly hostile people she gave no sign of it.

"When my cousin finds out what you've done…" Before she could expound further Theobald cut her off.

"If you are referring to the Princess Gwentria, I am afraid that I have some unfortunate news for you, Lady Julia, though I am not sure that the title still applies to you."

"What do you mean?!" She demanded, her voice holding suspicion, anger and fear." The use of her name apparently convincing her that Theobald had indeed been in contact with her family.

"I spoke the majordomo of House Ko'Iron. He informed me that your cousin was most displeased by your actions in attacking me." She sneered at him.

"As if that empty-headed ninny would be upset at me killing some Underhive trash! The only part of that which would upset her was not being allowed to do the same!" Theobald looked at her, employing the same tone of voice and expression which he had employed when putting resistance fighters in their place when tempers grew short.

"That may be, but I think that you are smart enough to realize that I am not from the Underhive little girl." That last part was intended to anger her and show her who had the power in the situation. He compounded this by drawing himself up to his full height.

"I am Theobald Traub, Rogue Trader by the grace of Terra and the God-Emperor's Warrant." He smiled in what he hoped was a cold manner as he saw her face pale.

"Yes, you just attacked a peer of the Imperium. Your family has disowned you and cast you out. I could kill you right now and I doubt that any of them would so much as blink."

"Is that what you are going to do?" He noted that though her voice trembled she had far more control over it than many would in her situation.

"I am still making up my mind about that." So saying he turned and left, having the door locked behind him. In truth he had no intention of killing her. Even if cast out the girl was still of value. Things could change and if and her family was a power on a very wealthy world. If and when their stance towards Julia changed it would be to his advantage to be able to produce them.

After leaving the brig he went to the medica to check on Rolf. He was unconscious, having received pain balm from the attending saw-bone. Theobald was not sure what the man's qualifications were, but after the butcher back home he wasn't overly picky. Rolf would need a more permeant bionic replacement. Fortunately the man assured Theobald that he and the tech-priests would have no difficulty performing the procedure.

He then proceeded to the bridge, their task was done here and he wanted to be free of his burden as quickly as possible. Vola had informed him that he would wait for as long as possible, looking back Theobald now saw that he should have realized this was a marker as to how important that this task had been, but he could not wait forever. Theobald would meet him, give him the Rosette and then be on his way. He had taken on more supplies and once he was free to go he had decided that he would travel beyond the Imperium again. The last time he had done so he had experienced great success and he hoped to replicate that success. He also hoped that if he went far enough beyond the Imperium he might be able to outrun the reach of Vola and stay out of sight long enough for the inquisitor to forget him and leave him free to go about his business.

They broke orbit and moved to the edge of the system, were a Warp jump could be safely made. He was about to give the order to take them out of the system when an alarmed cry caught his attention. It was from the man currently manning the augur station. Theobald was about to demand what was going on when he saw part of it for himself. A fleet was emerging from the Warp and appeared to be heading towards them.

"Identify those ships!" He demanded while he turned towards the vox operator.

"Hail them and demand to know their intentions!"

"Lead ship identified!" The auger operator called out.

"The lead ship is the _Divine Benevolence,_ a Lunar-class cruiser. The other two ships appeared to be armored freighters; names unknown." The vox operator then chimed in. 

"My lord the cruiser is hailing us." Theobald squared his shoulders faced forward, even though those on the other ship could not see him.

"I am Theo…" He got no further before being interrupted.

"I know who you are." A male voice growled in a tone which put Theobald in mind of a petulant child.

"You are the thief who stole my ship."

 **Author's Notes: Some days you just can't win can you? I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know that it has some rough spots, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I got the ideas for some of the characters from one of the Necromunda books, which I recommend. Till next time please pray for all who need it and may Jesus bless you.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry it has been so long, hope this makes up for it. As always I own nothing.**

For a moment Theobald simply stared at the vox station, not sure what to say. To be honest he had not given much thought about how he received the _Adventurer_ since the Mechanicus had given the ship to him. It was clear that his fellow Rogue Trader was not inclined to simply accept what had happened and yet was clearly not stupid enough to take on the Mechanicus, so instead had decided to come after Theobald. After a moment he took a deep breath and spoke to the vox operator.

"Contact the _Divine Benevolence."_ After a moment the man nodded that he would be heard.

"I am Theobald Traub. Might I know to whom I am speaking?"

"I," the man responded, the anger evident in his voice; "Am Prince-Admiral Kvan. Scion and heir of the most ancient and honorable House Oriossius. It speaks ill of you that you would steal from a man and not even know the name of the man whom you are robbing." The man's tone and the words that he spoke both caused Theobald to bristle. The man was clearly an aristocrat and even though he could not see him Theobald was sure that the man was looking down his nose at him. The thought enraged Theobald, especially when combined with his weariness and fear about the meeting to come. He spoke before he could bring his anger under control.

"I stole nothing. It was your arrogance which offended the Mechanicus and caused them to give the ship to me. If you have a problem with that, then I suggest that you take it up with them." As soon as he spoke the words he knew that he had made a mistake.

Kvan did not strike Theobald as a man to take any insult, real or perceived, lightly. Theobald's ship was outnumbered and outgunned and he was in no position to face the man in a straight up fight. His mind was running rapidly, furiously trying to find words which would make up for his earlier ones. He did not get the chance.

"MY LORD!" The auger operator screamed out, panic filling his voice.

"Their weapons are powering up!" He may have acted imprudently before, but he knew exactly what to do now.

"Helm! Get us out of here! Head back to the planet and try to get it between us and them! He turned to another the bridge officers.

"Raise void shields! Prepare weapons, but do not fire unless I expressly order it!" He was not sure what action, if any, that Helmawr would take, but he wanted it to be clear that it was Kvan, not Theobald, who fired the first shot. There was another reason, one which did not depend on the good will of Helmawr.

"Master Neall! We will be leaving in rather a hurry! Begin calculations for a jump!"

"Where to?" The Navigator asked in what Theobald considered to be a maddingly calm voice for the situation.

"Anywhere away from here! Surprise me!" The last being said in a tone of exasperation. Before he could say anymore a new alarm sounded and one of the officers cried out in alarm.

"MY LORD! THEY ARE OPENING THEIR TORPEDO TUBES AND ALL THE SHIPS ARE EXCELLERATING!" Theobald cursed. It appeared that Kvan was not prepared to let Theobald go so easily.

"My lord!" The auger operator called out.

"More ships approaching!" Several people groaned and cursed, something Theobald agreed with entirely.

"More reinforcements for Kvan?" He asked. The man shook his head. However; before he could elaborate, a new voice crackled over the vox.

"Attention Rogue Trader vessels. This is Admiral Fenniannias Corarus of the Necromunda Defense Fleet. Your actions have violated the Governor's Peace. You are ordered to power down your vessels and prepare to be boarded. If you refuse you shall be fired upon. This is your only warning." With that the transmission was cut.

"What ships do they have?"

"I am detecting five ships. The lead ship is the _Hammer of Helmawr,_ an Overlord-class Battlecruiser. The remaining ships are Cobra-class Destroyers." This was bad. Theobald knew that he could not outfight the large ship and he could not outrun the smaller ships. For a moment he did not know what to do, he was certainly not going to trust himself to Helmawr, if for no other reason than he was sure that Kvan and his family could offer much larger bribes than he could. Then an idea struck him.

"Navigator, how long till a jump is plotted?"

"This is highly unorthodox Traub. I cannot guarantee…"

"How long?" Theobald interrupted.

"Theoretically we can jump now. But we are still a considerable distance from the planet's Mandeville Point and…" Theobald cut him off again.

"Good." He turned back to the bridge.

"Lower Void Shields, power down weapons and slow the ship, let them think that we are complying. When I give the command raise the Gellar Field and make the jump." A pall of unease fell over the bridge, but none questioned his orders.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Kvan's ships did not halt and the distance continued to close the distance between them. Fortunately this seemed to cause Corarus to consider him the greater threat and he focused his attention on him. Theobald watched the auger screens, praying that they would not notice that he had not entirely stopped and that they could reach the Mandeville Point and make a jump.

"Oh God-Emperor, don't let them notice us." He said in a voice barely above a whisper, as if his voice was enough to attract their attention. From muttered voices throughout the bridge he appeared to not be the only one invoking the aid of the master of mankind. In the end all their prayers were for not.

"THEIR TURNING TOWARDS US AND THEIR WEAPONS ARE POWERING UP!" The warning cry broke through the silence of the bridge like a shot from a bolter.

"HELM! CAN WE MAKE THE MANDEVILLE POINT!"

"No my lord!" the reply came back.

"Then we only have one choice." Theobald said grimly, striking the communication rune to the Navigator.

"JUMP!"

 **Author's Notes: And the fun continues. Sorry if this one was a bit short, this was more of a setup and the next will be longer. If the Kvan seems unhinged remember Rogue Traders can do as they please outside of the Imperium and tend to forget they can't do that when they get back. Till next time please pray for several sick family friends and may Jesus bless you all.**


End file.
